Photo Credit - Simba SC Tanzania.
Simba SC Media Officer Ahmed Ally has remained cautious as they prepare to face Dodoma Jiji in their rescheduled Mainland Premier League fixture at KMC Stadium on Friday.
A win for Msimbazi Reds from the game in hand, will see them cut Young Africans (Yanga SC) lead at the summit of the 16-team league table to one point. Knowing the importance of the game, Simba have been training at KMC Stadium after their success to qualify from the round of 32 of the domestic Cup.
Speaking ahead of the game, Ally revealed why he was worried of facing Dodoma, a side he said has always proved difficult for Simba to break down. During the first round contest, Simba squeezed to a hard-fought 1-0 win. Last season, Simba won the first round meeting 2-0 before another 1-0 win the reverse fixture.
“We have held our final training session here at KMC Stadium, the venue for Friday’s game, and we are ready and looking forward for the Dodoma game,” Ally told Pan-Africa Football. “We look at the Dodoma game as one of the most difficult games we always face in the, it is because Dodoma have a quality squad and are always a hard nut to crack for Simba.
“On top of that, they have a very strong technical bench, very experienced coaches, who can give you hell, they can be difficult to break down in 90 minutes considering how they play, and it was clear against them in the first round fixture, so we have to be ready, it is a game in hand, and one of the remaining 10 matches that we don’t want to lose.
“We will do our best but knowing it will not be an easy game, we don’t want to underrate them, because we know what they can do on a good day.”
On whether Simba have got any injury concerns, Ally explained: “We go into the game well prepared, and with some good news, Che Malone, Mzamiru Yassin and goalkeeper Moussa Camara, they have been out for the last two weeks under the watch of our medical staff, been under treatment, after they were injured in the game against Azam FC.
“They have had enough time to get treatment and now they have started to look good, there is a big chance they may not be involved against Dodoma Jiji, because they need more time to recover from the injuries and with the international break coming up, it gives them even more time to recover, and hopefully they will be ready for our quarter-final Caf Confederation Cup fixture against Al Masry from Egypt.”
While Simba are sitting second on the log, Dodoma are lying eighth with 27 points from 22 matches. They have managed seven wins, six draws and suffered nine defeats.
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