Onwudi Chibueze’s fitness has been a source of concern for Thika United ever since the Nigerian picked up a calf injury four month ago during training.
Chibueze’s injury forced coach Nicholas Muyoti to play with only one striker throughout his absence due to the lack of sufficient personnel in his squad.
Youthful but talented striker Shami Kibwana was left carrying the weight of goal scoring responsibilities for the team following Chibueze’s injury, a situation that Muyoti has decried repeatedly in his recent post match interviews.
But if Thika’s last six games are anything to go by, it appears that they may finally have found a way to cope with the 24-year-old’s absence.
The Thika-based side downed Kariobangi Sharks 1-0 at their home turf last weekend, marking a three-match unbeaten run for the team. In fact, Thika have lost only once in their last six games.
These are encouraging statistic for a team that has battled relegation all season, although Muyoti toldKpl.co.ke that they have never thought about facing the drop.
“I don’t bother with relegation. I know our position on the table is not good, but I have never let those thoughts get to me. I have always known that we cannot and will never go down,” he said on Tuesday.
“This is proof that hard work pays. We’ve been working very hard and clearly our efforts have paid off. We played well against Sharks, created many chances and eventually won the game.
“We must now remain focused because the matches are getting fewer. At this point we need all the points we can get. We cannot afford any more slip-ups. We will treat all our remaining matches as final games,” Muyoti declared.