CAIRO: Kenyan club Ulinzi Stars will be without captain Stephen Ocholla when they play Zamalek in the African Champions League later in January.
Ocholla has been injured in December, when Kenya played Ethiopia at the Cecafa Senior Challenge event.
He suffered a thigh strain that was supposed to sideline him for up to four weeks, but the injury turned out to be worse than expected.
"It is disappointing," Ocholla told Kenyan paper The Standard. "It’s not possible to play against Zamalek in the first-leg."
Zamalek, who return to Africa’s premier club competition after almost 30 months of absence, will play in Kenya on January 29th before hosting the second-leg two weeks later.
"I still can’t sprint and don’t know when I would start training," he said. "But I am optimistic I would be ready for the second-leg."
History backs Zamalek to see off Ulinzi stars, who made only one continental appearance in 2004 before withdrawing from the first round.
The Cairo giants, on the other hand, are five-time African champions and only surpassed by rivals Ahli, who won six titles.
Still, Ocholla is optimistic.
"We have to win our home fixture against Zamalek in the first-leg and then look for at least a draw away," he said.
"A win will not certainly mean that we would be on the way to shock the Egyptians but it would give us a slight edge over them and increase our morale."
