Gor Mahia to miss key defender against Bidco
By Collins Amanga, October 28, 2023
Gor Mahia head coach Johnathan McKinstry has confirmed that Emery Bayisenge will not be involved for them during the Football Kenya Federation Premier League match against Bidco United on Saturday, October 28, 2023.
Bayisenge was stretchered off during the duel against Tusker, in which the reigning Premier League champions managed a 1-0 win.
Onyango to start for Gor Mahia
McKinstry is now set to field Joshua Onyango, who came on when Bayisenge was injured inside the first half.
“Emery had to go off in the first half of last week, so he won’t be involved this weekend; it is a calf strain, and we do not expect him to be out for too long.
“The fact that it is three games in a week might mean he misses a couple, but he will be back in the next week or two,” McKinstry said, as quoted by the club’s social media pages.
Apart from Bayisenge, Ernest Wendo – and those initially sidelined – will not be fielded as Gor Mahia look to win and keep their unbeaten run going against United.
“Ernest Wendo is suffering from a little bit of flu at the moment, so it is not too bad, but we decided to keep him out of training because we do not want any other players to come down ill.
“While Ernest might be able to train himself, we just did not want that virus to get any feverish, so whether or not he is available for this weekend, I am not sure, but definitely by Wednesday against Shabana, he should be ready.
“Gad [Mathews] is still on his way back and not for this game, but over the coming week or so, he can start to come into contention, and [Patrick] Kaddu is still another couple of weeks away,” the coach added.
Gor Mahia focus
McKinstry explained why Gor Mahia must keep their focus on the upcoming game instead of spreading their focus to the next several matches.
“Playing against every team in the Kenyan Premier League is extremely difficult because they always want to put out their best performance against us, whether individually or as a team, with the aim of making headlines.
“We know we have an interesting week coming up, but I want us to maintain our concentration only on this weekend, he continued.
The former Rwanda and Uganda national team coach also stated what his charges need to do in order to beat Ezekiel Akwana’s boys.
“We are facing a difficult opponent who has only one loss in their seven games this season. We know we’ll need to manage our energy levels, but with control of this game and using quality upfront, we will manage to win this game,” McKinstry concluded.