The Ghana
version of El Classico is just a few days to go and much to his
discomfort, Coach Korak is increasingly getting worried over
injuries in his team and the non-availability of some of his
players for full preparation for Sunday’s match.
Whilst
the absence if his players in the various national team, namely
Nathaniel Asamoah, Sabato Mohamed and Albert Bruce who are in
Accra training with the Black Meteors pose a bother to his team
preparation, his worries have been compounded by another
setback.
Last
Sunday during the Glo Premier League match against Aduana Stars
FC, one of his trusted and reliable defenders, Henry Ohene
Brenya, suffered an injury makes his availability for Sunday’s
match a remote possibility.
In the
said match, Henry received a big knock on the waist when an
Aduana player stepped on him, and this has made it impossible to
train since last Monday.
Though he
attempted at training last Wednesday morning, the pain he went
through was so excruciating that he had to be excused from the
day’s work some ten minutes into training.
Though
team doctor, Kwaku Boateng is very busy at work on him for the
match, Serbian trainer, Bogdan Korak, says he is surely not
going to field him for the match for obvious reasons.
“Sunday’s
match is an important one that I have assured all that I am
going to win, so I will not be taking any gamble by fielding
players without 100% fitness,” he told Kotoko Express.
“This is
the more reason why I will not field him for the match. If he
wants to go with us to Accra for the match, that will be fine
with me, but to field a not fully fit player, no, I will not do
that”.
Though
Coach Korak has options to equally fill in for the match, he
says getting a rich bench, is as equally important as having a
good team and so whatever happens, his team would be affected.
“I don’t
like playing matches with a not too strong bench. That is why I
am worried over team selection for Sunday”.
On the
Kotoko trio in camp with the national team, he expressed concern
that they are not released on time to join their colleagues at
the club level and this does not make his job a bit tougher.
“As I
speak with you, I do not know when the national team players
will report in Kumasi. If they come on Friday, it will mean that
they will have only one training session with the team and this
is not good enough”.
“Per my
training schedule, Fridays are not used for any rigorous work
but to do exercises that loosen the tension in their limbs.
What this means is that, when they are fielded in
matches, it takes a longer time for them to understand and
adjust to the game plan we adopt for our matches”.
Much as
these worries are there for him to deal with along his
preparation of the
team, Korak repeated his assurance of a victory on Sunday.
“We have
worked hard enough and so I am confident of victory on Sunday,”
he added.
