Win over Wazito marked Tusker’s turnaround, says Matano

After registering their first victory in the current FKF-PL season against Wazito FC on Saturday, Tusker FC head coach Robert Matano now hopes the defending champions will sustain the fresh mojo.

The Ruaraka Brewers lost their first two opening games to AFC Leopards and newly promoted side FC Talanta, but bounced back over the weekend by beating Wazito 2-0.

Goals from new signings Mwinyi Shami Kibwana and Deogratius Ojok were enough to give Tusker three points which moved them up to 13th from 17th on the log.

"We started badly, you know we have not been together as a team, we are now catching up so well since the loss against Talanta. It motivated the players because we are champions, we should stand and stand strong," said Matano.

Matano, who leads Tusker against Police FC on Wednesday at the Kasarani Stadium, feels the players have been challenged by the poor start, an opinion experienced midfielder Jackson Macharia shares.

"We are going to take game by game. After the first win my players are happy and composed. If you used to win and you stop winning definitely morale goes down, we can’t afford to lose more games, and we need to show that against Police,” he noted.

"This win has come at the right time. We have not been posting positive results because we have not blended well with the new players but this win shows we are good to go," Macharia on his part underscored.

"We have been working so hard to bring home this win, and through hard work it has finally been realised. We have shown character by rising from two and that is massive. It has been tough but after winning this match we now hope to start posting positive results consistently", he added.

Tusker are also hoping to tighten their loose ends before their trip to Tunisia where they take on giants Sfaxien in CAF Cup later this month, and Matano wants to use the FKF-PL matches to polish the team.