ALL STARS UPBEAT: Okumbi says his players are ready to take on Hull City

The unveilled Part of SportPesa All Stars at Kasarani Safaricom Stadium on Saturday, Jan 28th, 2017. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

London is cold. But there was some warmth at Terminal 4 of Heathrow Airport on Wednesday evening when the Sportpesa All Stars side which will play against Hull City arrived.

Despite the nine-hour flight from Nairobi, the players were in high spirits and displayed no signs of jetlag — and even the light rains did not dampen their spirits all through the four-hour road trip to Hallmark Hotel, along the banks of River Humber in North Ferriby.

The hotel is a just a few kilometres from Hull City, and KCOM Stadium where the Kenyan side, dubbed will play against the English Premier League side on Monday.

Even though the Kenya side will not be pitted against the whole first team of the premier league side, Stanley Okumbi, the Harambee Stars coach who is also the All Stars coach is upbeat that the match will give his charges a good exposure.

“Considering we are hosting Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) and the fact that all the players in this team are based in Kenya, it will be easy to pick a squad to represent Kenya from this team,” Okumbi said.

“Some of these players have never travelled out of the country and this is a chance of a lifetime, and to make matters better, they are playing a side that is in top flight league.”

He added that most of the 18 players in the SportPesa All Stars stand a higher chance to be selected in the CHAN Squad.

The All Stars comprised 47 players picked from local teams, but was whittled down to 29, then the final 18 which arrived in the UK on Wednesday evening.

“This is an exciting moment for me,” Amos Nondi, the Gor Mahia midfielder, said. The 20-year old added that this is a great opportunity for him to market himself.

“We are not going to play against the first eleven of Hull City, but there is so much at stake especially for young players like us who made the team,” he added.

James Situma, the Tusker skipper, is happy for the younger players and expressed optimism that they can make it to other leagues based on their performance at KCOm Stadium on Monday.