Makwatta out of Ulinzi's Cup squad

Last season’s SportPesa Premier League Golden Boot winner John Mark Makwatta has been left out of the Ulinzi Stars squad that will play away to club Smouha of Egypt in the first round of this year’s Caf Confederation Cup this Friday.

The 24-year old policeman has been approached by a number of foreign based clubs, and is set to leave the country on Wednesday for a series of trials with clubs within Africa and Asia.

Ulinzi coach Benjamin Nyangweso revealed that the player has already been released by the club to pursue new pastures accepting that the development has dealt his team a big blow as they plan to take on the Egyptian league giants.

“Makwatta was a player whom we had been banking on so we shall definitely miss him but some of these things are unavoidable. I choose to look on the brighter side because his departure means that those who have remained behind must now step up and prove themselves good enough for the challenge.

“The outcome of the game is unpredictable and I cannot say that we shall win, but it is my hope that we shall come back from Egypt with a favourable result. Winning is however dependent on preparations so since we have already concluded our preparations, what remains for us is to give our best during the game,” he said.

Makwatta’s absence is indeed a big blow to the Kenyan soldiers especially now that alternative Kevin Amwayi has been redeployed into the forces and is not expected to return to the team for the duration of this season.

This leaves the burden of scoring on young forward Baron Oketch, who is at Ulinzi on loan from Gor Mahia, and rookies Daniel Waweru and John Kago.

Ulinzi Stars qualified for this first round of the competition on February 18 after eliminating Libyan side Al Hilal Benghazi 5-4 on post-match penalties. The soldiers had lost 1-0 in the first leg played in Cairo but returned the favour with a 1-0 win in the home match two weeks later to necessitate a penalty shootout.

To conserve their hopes of reaching the Confederation Cup group stage, Ulinzi will be required to display their best performance as Smouha are regular participants in such competitions and even reached the Caf Champions League group stage in 2015.

Friday's first leg match will be played at the Borg el Arab stadium in Alexandria, Egypt, and Nyangweso’s boys are scheduled to leave the country on Tuesday at 5pm.