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Odoch labelled their second meeting in the Kampala derby this season at the Muteesa II Stadium as an opportunity for his underperforming players to reignite their season and show how special the Red Eagles are.
James Odoch has called for a reaction from Express FC when they face rivals SC Villa in the Kampala derby on Sunday afternoon.
Odoch labelled their second meeting in the Kampala derby this season at the Muteesa II Stadium as an opportunity for his underperforming players to reignite their season and show how special the Red Eagles are.
Coming off the back of a 1-0 defeat to URA FC, and without a league victory since November 2022, the visit of Jackson Magera’s SC Villa without a league defeat since December is being viewed as either coming at the worst time, or the perfect opportunity to get Express going again.
“We cannot hide from the bad spell we are going through as a club at the moment,” Odoch exclusively told Pulse Sports.
“We lost the previous derby here even when Villa were the hosts on the day, and we still have a score to settle from that game.”
“But even the current bad run in terms of results has got everyone concerned, and we are fighting to change the situation in a better direction.”
“There is a general concern from the team, and staff regards that run, and we want to end it, especially with victory over a rival like SC Villa,” Odoch added.
It is understood that Odoch spoke with his players after their defeat to the Tax Collectors about their form and current run, while there have also been other high-
profile meetings over the issue, with club chairman Kiryowa Kiwanuka
Incidentally, the poor run is not entirely down to the quality within the squad or competence of the technical team, but several other off-field troubles engulfing the club, which prompted club chairman to hold a player’s meeting to convince them that he was still part of the club.
However, Express must galvanize themselves against all the distractions, with Odoch banking on the positivity shown in training throughout the week.
“We have finished the all preparation for the derby. The players have reacted well. The aggression is there, the determination is there, now hopefully we can show it in the game,” Odoch said,
We still have fitness concerns like captain Daniel Shabene and Mayanja who are still. But we have to pick ourselves and play as a team.”
“With everything going on, I hope we can get the right response, and then maybe we can use it to build on for the remainder of the season because we still want to perform well,” he continued.
SC Villa strolled to a 2-0 victory at the Muteesa II Stadium in their earlier meeting, with goals from Ivan Sserubiri and Charles Bbaale.
The Red Eagles will seek to end a dismal home run against their rivals, whom they last secured victory over in December 2020, and have picked up only three victories over since April 2014.
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