Bandari head coach, Anthony 'Modo' Kimani hopes his team will build upon their splendid form in the preceding season to successfully charge for a maiden topflight title.
In an exclusive interview on Monday, Kimani expressed optimism ahead of the new season, saying he had acquired enough depth to get the work done. The side cracked a top-three finish last season.
“Practice is going on as planned and all our players are responding very well,” Kimani said.
“We've already had one preseason match against Mombasa Combined which comprise a combination of KPL and second-tier league sides. We played out a one-all draw and then beat them 3-2 in the second match,” Kimani said.
Kimani said they will be traveling to Nairobi to polish up their act before their first encounter of the season.
The Mombasa-based club open their account against Kenya Police at Nyayo Stadium on September 10.
“Fortunately, we have enough time to polish our act because we have a couple of weeks left before the beginning of the competition.”
“We have a series of friendly matches with top-tier sides in the capital city ahead of the start of the new season,” Kimani said.
“We have signed six new players and welcomed back two players others whom we had loaned out to Sofapaka and Mombasa Heroes.”
The six acquisitions at the dockers are Felix Oluoch and Douglas Mokaya ( Kariobangi Sharks), Omar Somobwana (AFC Leopards), Mohamed 'Mudiga' Abeid (Coastal Heroes), Fidel Origa (Wazito) and Wilberforce Lugogo (Sofapaka).
The side will peg their hopes on Oluoch to sharpen their attack after he narrowly missed out on the Golden Boot gong in the preceding season.
The illustrious forward's splendid run fired him to a third-place finish on the top scorers' chart with 13 goals.
Oluoch fell slightly behind KCB's Derrick Otanga and Kenya Police's Clifton Miheso who struck the back of the net 16 and 15 times respectively.
Meanwhile, Kimani said he doesn't think the suspension of Kenya by the world football governing body, Fifa has affected the performance of the players on the topflight stage.
“I wouldn't really want to be involved in the politics of our football but there is no doubt that the uncertainty surrounding our football isn't good for its growth.
“However, I don't agree that the exclusion of Kenya by Fifa from international competitions has compromised the quality of our local league.
“Any player who is passionate about football cannot be affected by the existing stalemate between government and Fifa, though,” Kimani said.
