Amavubi Stars head coach Johnny McKinstry has singled out hosts Ethiopia as Rwanda’s biggest threat in Group A at this year’s CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup which is slated for November 21 to December 6 in Addis Ababa.

Rwanda was drawn in Group A alongside Ethiopia, Tanzania and minors Somalia, but McKinstry is optimistic to the knockout stage.

Amavubi, who last won the regional championships in 1999 in Kigali, will start their campaign against Ethiopia on November 21 before meeting Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro Stars three days later and their last group game will be against Somalia in Hawassa.

Reacting on draws McKinstry said: "Well obviously just seeing the latest version of the draw; we are grouped with Ethiopia and Tanzania; both of whom we have had good results against this year, and Somalia who we played with the U-23 team.”

"So we have a good record against all our opponents. We expect each match to provide a good test for us; especially against the hosts (Ethiopia), we can expect a tough game in front of their home crowd,” he noted.The Kenya Harambee Stars are the defending champions after they defeated the Falcons of Sudan 2-0 in the final two years ago in Nairobi. Uganda is the most successful country with 13 titles.

Group A: Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and SomaliaGroup B: Uganda, Burundi, Zanzibar and KenyaGroup C: Soudan, South Sudan, Malawi and Djibouti.

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