Striker Ibrahim Joshua dreams big with Tusker

Tusker striker Ibrahim Joshua expects a tough contest in their Caf Confederation Cup second round match against CS Sfaxien of Tunisia, but believes a win in the first leg will better his team’s chances of making it to the group stage of the competition.

The Tanzania forward has urged his team mates to target victory in the first leg clash with an eye on the group stage.

Tusker host the first leg match at the Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday before they travel to the North African country for the second leg on December 5.

Joshua told Nation Sport that even with the suspension of the local league by the caretaker committee running football following the disbandment of Football Kenya Federation, the squad is fully fit as the players have been training well as they target a positive result.

"We will approach the game positively. We have stepped up our preparations because we want to qualify for the group stage.

"Even though we have not participated in a competitive league match, our preparations have been good and we shall fight for a good result on the day," said Joshua.

Tusker suffered a 5-0 aggregate loss to Zamalek SC of Egypt in the Caf Champions League first round and were relegated to the less prestigious Caf Confederation Cup.

The striker, who joined Tusker from Tanzanian second-tier team Ken Gold this season, has already scored five goals for the brewers in all competitions.

He scored twice in the two-leg preliminary round Caf Champions League tie against Arta Solar 7 of Djibouti in September. 

He also bagged a brace against Gor Mahia in the FKF Super Cup on September 22 and got his first league goal when Tusker beat Kenya Police 2-1 in at Kasarani on November 3.

The Tunisian giants arrive in the country on Thursday morning ahead of the Sunday game.