The coach was given a touchline ban for unsporting behaviour and missed the matches against Sudan and Zanzibar
Kenya head coach Francis Kimanzi has said reaching the semi-final of the Cecafa Senior Challenge is more important than his return from suspension.
Kimanzi had been banned by Cecafa after the game against Tanzania and went on to miss the Sudan and Zanzibar ties.
He is expected to lead the team again on Tuesday against Eritrea, but he says the fact Kenya qualified for the knockout phase far outweighs his return from suspension.
“There’s nothing to be excited about my return. My hope is players are happier to be in the semi-final. Eritrea are at this stage of the tournament by merit and we are too and therefore we cannot afford to underrate them and we will give it our best shot,” Kimanzi told the Daily Nation.
Kenya might miss Abdalla Hasaan, who was injured in their last group match against Zanzibar. The Bandari forward has scored two goals and made two assists already and might miss the match against Eritrea but Kimanzi is hopeful Kenya will retain the title.
“Several players suffered knocks in the last match and we are assessing them, hopefully, we can have them ready for the semi-final,” added Kimanzi.
“I said from the onset we came here to defend the title and so far, so good. The bigger mission, however, was to have a look at some of the players we have been thinking of incorporating in the ‘A’ team and so far, most of them have done well.”
The former Mathare United coach praised goalkeeper Samuel Odhiambo, who has been selected ahead of Timothy Odhiambo for the last three matches.
Odhiambo was given a last-minute call up after Brian Bwire dropped injured.
“[Samuel] Odhiambo, for instance, was not meant to start at Cecafa to be honest since we had Timothy [Odhiambo] as an understudy to Ian Otieno in our last Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and it was only fair to hand him an opportunity at this tournament but sometimes injuries give us a chance to see what other players are capable.
“Odhiambo has grabbed the opportunity and impressed.”
The Kenya vs Eritrea match will start at 13:00 EAT.
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