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Struggling Sofapaka will be seeking their first win in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League when they take on Kenya Police in their seventh fixture of the season at Machakos Stadium on Saturday.

This will be the first time league action is returning to Machakos in almost three years, the last piece of action being played at the venue before the Covid-19 pandemic. Batoto ba Mungu have had their worst-ever start to any league campaign, as they are winless in the last six matches, managing one draw and losing five.

The move forced the club’s management to ring changes in the technical bench by firing Burundian coach Francis Haringingo and bringing in Ezekiel Akwana on an interim basis, but his first match saw the team suffer a 2-0 defeat against Murang’a Seal FC at SportsPess Arena before the FIFA international break.

Against the law enforcers, who are also under new coach Zdravko Logarusic, Akwana will be taking charge of his second match and according to the former international, the international break has been beneficial as it allowed him to assess all aspects of the squad and individual player performance ahead of the Saturday’s battle.

“The break has helped me see what to change and what to keep, the remaining days are crucial for me and the technical bench if we are to produce positive results at the weekend,” said Akwana.

On whether he will be heading into the fixture with pressure, Akwana was categorical: “I don’t bow down to pressure, in fact, I like working under pressure, we coaches are always under pressure the moment we take up our jobs, so it is nothing different, my focus now is to get our first win and we will fight tooth and nail to defeat Police.”

Logarusic, who came in to replace Francis Baraza at Police, admitted being worried about facing a struggling Sofapaka side insisting they must be at their best to get maximum points.

“Playing against any wounded team is not easy,” Logarisic told People Sports, adding: “They (Sofapaka) are currently in their worst run but that does not give us a direct ticket to defeat them, we must be very cautious on how we approach them, we need to be very technical and I know we will have a good game.”

While Sofapaka are currently languishing at the bottom of the 18-team table with a single point, Police are placed sixth with nine points.

On Sunday, champions Gor Mahia will come up against Tusker seeking to close the gap between them and table leaders Posta Rangers, who will face FC Talanta at Ruaraka grounds on Saturday. The K’Ogalo versus Tusker fixture at Nyayo Stadium will be among the games to be televised live by FKF broadcast partners Azam TV and will be preceded by that pitting Kariobangi Sharks against Muhoroni Youth.

Meanwhile, struggling AFC Leopards will play their first match under new coach Tomas Trucha when they take on Bandari at Mbaraki Sports Club on Sunday while promoted Shabana will be going for their second win this season against Nairobi City Stars at Homabay Stadium.