Akwana determined to get Sofapaka out of the woods

Sofapaka stand-in coach Ezekiel Akwana is confident of turning the club’s fortunes around after being given the mandate to lead the former league winners.

The 2009 champions turned to Akwana’s expertise after sacking Burundian tactician Francis Haringingo alongside his assistant Pablo Ndiwumana on Sunday.

Haringingo, was relieved of his duties after failing to win a game in the opening five rounds of the season where the club lost four and drew once.

Before he was fired, Sofapaka had already integrated Akwana in to the technical bench as a second assistant.

Akwana revealed that lifting the club from the red zone is his first task at Sofapaka whom he is serving for a second spell.

“My immediate assignment is to get the team from the bottom. We have quality and depth to get the job done,” he said in an interview with club media.

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Akwana’s bid will come under scrutiny when they face debutants Murang’a Seal at the St. Sebastian Park.

Interestingly, Akwana coached Seal albeit briefly in last season’s first leg.

He believes that Sofapaka will wipe the floor with Seal who have punched above their weights thus far as the Gikuu based club has won three duels and lost twice.

“We will surely get positive results starting with our game against Seal. We are preparing for nothing short of three points,” he opened up.

Sofapaka fire Burundian coach Francis Haringingo

Meanwhile, the former Mathare United tactician admitted that the task ahead of him was not an easy one. He conceded that the job had its own pressure but was ready to confront it head on.

“I like working under pressure. I believe coaches were born to face pressure. If you can’t handle pressure, then you can’t change anything,” he added.