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Sofapaka head coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno has promised a top five finish after masterminding his second Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League victory from three matches in charge, after his side pipped Kakamega Homeboyz 1-0 on Friday.

Darius Msagha’s second half strike enabled Batoto ba Mungu to pick their second win under Otieno, who came in to replace interim coach Ezekiel Akwana. Otieno’s first game in charge saw Sofapaka beat Bidco United 3-0 before he lost the second 3-1 against Tusker.

Speaking after the game, the former Harambee Stars tactician remained confident of securing Sofapaka’s status in the league for next season and went further to promise a top five finish at the end of the campaign that has seen the side embroiled in relegation battle for the better part.

“I came in and found a difficult situation, first game against Bidco which I won, I only had four players in the substitute bench and against Tusker which we lost, I did not have a reserve goalkeeper as one of them had already signed for Homeboyz,” Otieno told People Sports.

“When I came in, we had a squad of only 14 players, so atleast we have tried and recruited some players and I am very happy on that although they are very inexperienced because most of them have not played at this level but I know players like Humphrey (Mieno) and Darius (Msagha) will compensate for the experience.

“With the new signings, and the coming break (since our next match against FC Talanta will come in February), it gives me enough time to interact with my players and set our targets, but one thing I am sure about is that Sofapaka will not be relegated, and my vision is to finish amongst the top five teams.”

Asked how he feels fighting for relegation with Sofapaka, Otieno responded: “I am enjoying fighting relegation, this is coaching, it is part of our job, you coach to win titles and sometimes coach to fight for relegation, it is a challenge (to fight for relegation) it is the first time I am doing it and I hope at the end of the day we won’t be talking about Sofapaka being relegated and by the time we will be playing our 15th match of the second round I am very sure we won’t be talking about relegation.”

He added: “At the moment am just thinking about winning our next match, I am not looking at the league standings as at now, what we are doing is just to make sure we win our next match.”

The win saw Sofapaka move to 14th position on the log, two places above relegation zone, with 20 points while Homeboyz continued with their downward