The Slum Boys’ tactician blames fatigue as the key factor towards the team’s poor run of form in the top-tier
Mathare United coach Salim Ali has blamed the team’s recent poor run of results in the FKF Premier League on fatigue.
The Slum Boys slumped to their seventh defeat of the season after going down 2-1 to visiting Kakamega Homeboyz at Kasarani Annex on Sunday.
Homeboyz striker Chris Masinza scored from the penalty spot in the sixth minute and centre-back Silvester Owino added the second in the 22nd minute to ensure the visitors returned to winning ways and silenced the Slum Boys, who scored their lone goal through Tyson Otieno in the 43rd minute.
The latest defeat has left Mathare languishing in the lower reaches of the 18-team table and if they don’t turn around their results for the better then they will face relegation at the end of the season.
But despite the situation at the club, coach Ali has insisted fatigue has played a key factor towards the team’s poor run of form, adding mentally his charges are also drained with the conceding of early goals an indicator.
“It’s all down to a lack of concentration which stems from the players being mentally and physically drained,” Salim said as quoted by the club’s social media pages.
“We have been playing on the back foot since the season started trying to catch up with the other teams who have played more matches than us. This has seen us get less time in between games to rest and prepare and it has hampered us.
“You can see it with the goals we concede. If you fall behind early in matches you use more energy trying to come back and the effects of that are visible.”
Ali has, however, praised his charges for their fighting spirit and ability to score goals as it shows if they can get it right on one end, they can do the same on the other.
Mathare are now lying second from the bottom with nine points from 12 matches with Zoo FC the bottom-placed side with six points from 12 outings.
The Slum Boys will hope to recover and win their next match when they take on Kariobangi Sharks in the 'slums derby' at Kasarani Stadium on Thursday.