THIRTEEN-times league champions APR is looking forward to a much better performance when they face arch rivals Rayon Sports in the eighth round of the Turbo King Football league match due on Saturday at Amahoro stadium.

Speaking to Times Sport yesterday, APR assistant coach Vincent Mashami said the army side is working hard to garner maximum points against the reigning champions, and go above them in the league standings.

"It is going to be a tough game, keeping in mind that we lost the last encounter badly (4-0) against them last season. However, this is a new season and we can’t continue to think about what happened in the previous season but work hard to ensure that we put things right,” said Mashami.

He added, "Our preparations are going on well and players are in a good mood. We need to avoid mistakes and work as a unit to ensure that we accomplish our mission which is bagging maximum points.”

Mashami, who took over as the club’s assistant coach last month expressed satisfaction on his side’s return of 14 points after seven rounds of matches.

Rayon Sports and APR have created a bitter rivalry since 1995 with the later going on to win a record 13 league titles compared to seven for the former during that period.

After years of dominance, the Blues handed the Black and White side one of their heaviest defeats in recent years as they succumbed to a 4-0 loss in March this year.

Papy Kamanzi grabbed a brace, while skipper Aphrodis Hategikimana and Amissi Cedric netted the other two goals in a game that attracted 25,000 spectators . Nshimiyimana resigned following the loss and was replaced with Romanian-Germany born Andreas Spier.

In 2002, Rayon beat APR 4-1 at Amahoro, but they have since struggled to beat their rivals in the last six years or so.

APR currently sit third on the league standings with 14 points, two points behind arch rivals Rayon Sports and four behind leaders AS Kigali.

Whereas the champions go into Saturday’s game fresh from a 1-0 win over Mukura, their opponents (APR) were frustrated in a goalless draw against Etincelles.