Africa-Press – Tanzania. SIMBA have maintained that they will rotate the squad in their remaining three matches to give playing time to some players who have rarely been featured in the elapsing season.
The defending champions boosted their chances of retaining the top flight league for the fourth time in a row courtesy of a recent 2-0 win over KMC at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in the city.
However, speaking recently, Simba coach Didier Gomes confirmed that he will make several changes in their upcoming league fixtures.
“We have a depth squad and this is the right time to see how other players like Miraji Athumani, Gadiel Michael, Said Ndemla and David Kameta showcase their talents.
“They always work hard during training sessions and I am willing to feature them in competitive games but due to the deep squad we have, it usually becomes very hard,” he said.
However, resting some players will be among the important strategies for him as they head for another big traditional derby match versus Young Africans in the finals of Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) on July 25th.
The mouthwatering finale will be staged at Lake Tanganyika Stadium in Kigoma where its natural grass will suffer throughout the 90 minutes of play paving way to footwork action.
Gomes briefly commented on the game: “I think this time around, the referee will not be blind because in the previous match, he did not see well the two penalties.
Now we need to prepare for the finals very well because we want to keep the title as well. He continued: “For sure, we need to correct something particularly by ensuring that we start the match more stronger… this is very important to be ready to fight as soon as the match starts.”
This will be the first time for the two oldest clubs in the country to square off in the finals of ASFC with Simba eyeing to retain the championship for the second time in a row while their opponents will be eager to stop them from achieving that.
The Reds eclipsed Namungo 2-1 in the last edition’s finals at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Sumbawanga, Rukwa which gave the latter the ticket to parade in the CAF Confederation Cup where they succeeded to reach in the group stages but could not go beyond that.
