Etoile de l’Est forward Samuel Chukwudi Nwosu says they will be ready for the challenge when they take on Rutsiro on Friday as the Rwanda premier league returns.

The domestic football league – like all sporting activities in the country – took a brief hiatus as Rwanda observed the commemoration week in honour of the over one million victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Nwosu, who is second on the golden boot race with ten goals despite his club’s patchy form, insists they have no alternative other than picking up all the points against Rutsiro for a chance to get out of the relegation zone.

"We have prepared for the game in the best way we can. Expectations are high because we all know our situation,” Nwosu told this publication.

Ngoma District-based Etoile de l’Est, who earned promotion to topflight league last season, are second-last on the 16-team table with 20 points from 22 matches. They are four points ahead of bottom side Gicumbi and one behind 14th-placed Etincelles.

"We will do our best to win at their own backyard, just like the way they came and won at our home in the first-leg. Anything is possible,” he added.

An away victory for Etoile could lift them up into the 12th position with 23 points as three teams in higher ranks – Gorilla (12th), Rutsiro (13th) and Etincelles (14th) – are all level at 21 points.