Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has explained why Joseph Okumu is not part of his squad to take on Gambia in a 2026 World Cup qualifier.

Okumu surprisingly was missing when the new head coach named his final Harambee Stars squad, but his absence has now been explained, at least by the coach himself.

However, McCarthy said he is not concerned with the players not in camp, as the available ones are ready to fight and win.

“Umh… I don’t know. There was just a misunderstanding with the manager and Stanley [Okumu] and the club, so he is not here.”

“My concern is not with the players not here. I want to focus on being positive with the players that are here, those that did turn up and are ready to fight for the country, and ready to fight for everything,” McCarthy said as quoted by a local publication.

Collins Sichenje is also not available for McCarthy, as he got injured while playing for FK Vojvodina on Sunday, March 9, 2025.

“Sichenje got injured while playing for his team on Sunday, so they pulled him out. That’s the risk you take. You can fly the player here and assess him yourself, but I’m pretty sure the player wants to come and play for the national team, so he won’t just let his club pull him out.

“We just didn’t want to fly the player all the way when he is injured, so we accepted the statement from the club, and the player communicated with the team manager,” McCarthy explained.

Debut

As he makes his debut as Kenya’s coach, the former Manchester United first-team coach is hopeful the players will not let him down.

“I think physically we are strong; we are good; I like what I see with the team. Just a little bit of tactical organization on how we want to play. My main focus is on the players that are here.

“The ones that didn’t make it, there’s no trouble; we will discuss and follow up with them and their clubs after these two important games,” he added.

The match will kick off at 22:00 EAT.