Okal explains reason behind Sofapaka's struggle in the league

Sofapaka midfielder Roy Okal believes his team is struggling because they are almost an entirely new outfit after signing a basketful of players at the start of the season and during the mid-season transfer window.

Okal is one of the many faces that arrived at Batoto ba Mungu at the start of the season from Mathare United attributes their struggle in the competition to the rebuilding phase. From the starting team named during their 1-0 win over KCB at Ruaraka Grounds on Saturday, only Mohamed Kilume and Titus Achesa were at the club last season, the other nine players were either signed at the start of the season or during the January transfer window.

Out of the more than half a dozen players who warmed the bench, only the quartet of Sammy Imbuye, Collins Wakhungu, Sunday Ikekhai, and Kepha Aswani had been at the club for more than a season hence justifying Okal's defense to the woeful run.

“We are like a new team because the team signed many players this season and we are still trying to gel and get to understand each other and the struggles we are experiencing right now is normal for any rebuilding team. The team is not yet compact, we are still gelling and I confident that once that happens we will be a force to reckon with in the league,” he told Mozzartsport.

Commenting on the largely unexpected win over KCB, the soft-spoken midfielder said they had a plan which they perfectly executed to down the bankers and in the process returned to winning ways after back-to-back losses to Gor Mahia at home and Nairobi City Stars away.

“KCB is a very good team, their attack, midfield, and backline is good and so our plan was to sit back and try to beat them on the break and I think it worked perfectly particularly in the first half. This is an important win for us because we needed a little bit of confidence boost and this is good heading into the tough league and cup matches ahead of us,” he added.

Next for Okal and Batoto ba Mungu is a Cup match against an in-form Ulinzi Stars side at their Wundanyi base. The match will be played on Wednesday afternoon at 3 pm. They will resume league action against Tusker FC at the same venue in just over a fortnight.