Bandari head coach John Baraza has said they are firmly in contention for this season's Kenyan Premier League title.
The Dockers are fifth on the log with 23 points, five adrift of leaders and reigning champions Gor Mahia.
A slow start to the season occasioned drastic changes to the technical bench, with beleaguered tactician Anthony Kimani stepping aside to pave the way for Twahir Muhiddin.
However, Muhiddin failed to inject the much-needed impetus into the team and it did not take long for the management to replace him with his assistant, Baraza.
Baraza appears to have eventually unearthed the team's winning touch and, in the process reignited their lofty aspirations for a maiden topflight title.
The former Sofapaka forward reckons they possess the mojo to close the gap on K'Ogalo and even topple them to take command of the log.
"The title race is as good as the marathon and the journey has just begun. The gap among the top five teams is not as huge. We are determined to collect maximum points from each of our remaining matches and see how it ends," Baraza stated.
"I strongly believe the top five teams have an equal chance to clinch this year's title. We cannot be ruled out," he added.
The experienced gaffer strongly feels that the absence of injured players has slowed down their pace in the campaign.
The trio of Shariff Majabe, Siraj Mohamed, and Beja Nyamawi has been out of action after undergoing a variety of procedures.
"There is no doubt that their absence has been felt. We still hope that those deployed as their replacements will meet expectations," Baraza remarked.
"Losing a large number of players on the bounce can seriously destabilise any team. Some of the players on the injury list have been instrumental in our previous campaigns. Their absence has seriously limited our options," Baraza observed.
Bandari suffered a setback to their title aspirations following a narrow 1-0 loss to Nairobi City Stars at Ruaraka Stadium over the weekend. This was Baraza's second loss at the helm of the Mombasa-based club.
