Vihiga United ready for play off tie despite uncertainty

Vihiga United players celebrate a goal in a past match at Bukhungu Stadium. [Eric Lungai]

National Super League side Vihiga United has stepped up preparation for the league playoff after the FKF Premier League released fixtures for the 2020/2021 season on Wednesday.

Vihiga United was expected to square it out with Kisumu All Stars earlier this month in the two-legged fixture, but it was cancelled after the Ministry of Sports failed to give go-ahead for contact sports.

Head coach Sammy Okoth said although there was still uncertainty regarding the fixture, his charges were ready.

“The players were given individual training schedules which they have been using for the past two and half months, and we are now slowly bringing them together for team training,” Okoth said.    

The aggregate winner over the two legs will earn a ticket to play in the 2020/21 FKF PL. Vihiga United finished third in NSL while All Stars finished 16th in the Kenyan Premier League, in a season was cut short by Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier, Okoth expressed dismay at the cancellation of the play off match noting his players were eager to play in the Premier League and some of them, whose contracts were running down, want to decide on their futures after the match.

Vihiga United players in 2018. [Eric Lungai, Standard]

“The players believe that after the playoffs they would have decided on whether to stay in their current clubs or not. Postponing the play off only make their plans a bit tricky,” he said.

He said such would destabilise any of the teams participating in the play off later on in the event they lose players, as they will not have enough time to get replacements.

However, Okoth says he was confident his team would re-join the Premier League having been relegated in May 2019, after only two seasons in the top tier.