Saturday AS Kigali Vs KMC (Kigali Stadium, 15:00)

AS Kigali Football Club will face rivals Kinondoni Municipal Council football club ‘KMC’ in the CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round on Saturday at Kigali stadium without their key players, Eric ‘Bakame’ Ndayishimiye and Haruna Niyonzima.

The duo joined the club last month from Leopards (Kenya) and Simba (Tanzania) respectively but haven’t been granted a ‘FIFA International Transfer Certificate, ITC’ yet.

AS Kigali delayed to submit the details of their transfer, something that has now hampered their eligibility for the tie but club officials revealed that they will take part in the return leg slated for later this month.

Ndayihimiye, a former goalkeeper for APR and Rayon Sports who also has over 50 caps for the national team is one of the most decorated goalkeepers in the country while Haruna Niyonzima is also a former captain for the national team and has won trophies with APR, Simba and Young Africans.

AS Kigali coach Eric Nshimiyimana, who returned to the club last season is adamant the club can get a good result without the experienced duo.

"We will miss them but we have good cover. Right now the mood and confidence in the team is high,” Nshimiyimana said.

The City of Kigali side will face a familiar face in Jean Baptiste Mugiraneza who joined KMC in July.

AS Kigali need to win the tie and avoid conceding goals in their first leg match to have a chance of progressing to the next round pending on any goalless draws in the return leg in two weeks’ time.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com