APR FC head coach Jimmy Mulisa has said APR FC are looking forward to reaching advanced stages of next year’s CAF Confederation Cup campaign.

The 2017 Peace Cup winners will face Seychelles league side Anse Reunion in the preliminary round of the competition with the first leg due on the weekend of February 9-11, 2018. The second leg will be played in Kigali a fortnight later.

Speaking exclusively to Times Sport, Mulisa said his immediate focus is to eliminate Anse Reunion before thinking about the next round where APR would face the winner between Mali 2 of Mali and Liberia’s Elwa United.

The 16-time league title winners did not go past the preliminary round of the Champions League last year, crashing out of the competition at the hands of Zambia’s seven-time league champions Zanaco FC.

"When I assumed this job last season, it was a tough challenge and we were not at our best, but now we are getting better by the day,” the former Rwanda international said.

Mulisa added: "I also wanted to go far with APR in the Champions League but we could not progress even past the preliminary round. But this season, we are a better team after a full season of playing together, our target now is to reach as far as we possibly can next year (Confederation Cup).”

Mulisa disclosed that they are doing all they can to thoroughly prepare for the competition. It will be the first time a Rwandan side will be facing opponents from Seychelles and Mulisa said they were trying to get as much information as possible about their opponents.

The former Sunrise FC coach confirmed that he is looking to add to his squad a couple of new faces so as to have "enough quality and depth” for the team to be able to compete at the continental level.

"We already have good players but we need to bring in a few new faces to help us compete favourably in all competitions we are engage in,” he said.

APR FC are third in the Azam Rwanda Premier League with 15 points, two behind joint leaders AS Kigali and second-placed SC Kiyovu after eight rounds of matches.

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