KENYA coach Engin Firat thinks the Warriors will "park the bus" in their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group J clash set for the Peter Mokaba Stadium in South Africa on Friday but believes they will be able to unlock them.
Zimbabwe need a draw to book their place at the next Afcon finals which will be played in Morocco next year.
The two sides played out a goalless draw in the reverse fixture in Uganda in September
Kenya, like Zimbabwe, do not have a stadium fit to host international matches and hosted the Warriors in Uganda.
The Warriors will be the hosts on Friday before flying out to take on Cameroon in Yaounde on Tuesday.
On arrival in South Africa on Monday ahead of the Friday clash, Harambee Stars’ Turkish gaffer said he is aware the Warriors will not give his charges a chance to play but without going into detail, said he will exploit the Zimbabwe senior men team’s weaknesses.
“They will play against us very deep and will not open the game. Zimbabwe have a lot of quality players playing in the Serie A, Premier League and French Ligue 1 and they have a full squad; nobody is missing. Therefore, we know we have to pressure them. We have to push. We also have our ideas on how to open up these teams and to exploit their weaknesses,” Firat said.
Before the Afcon draw in September, The Harambee Stars beat the Warriors twice in a four-nation tournament in Malawi in March and in the Cosafa competition in South Africa four months later.
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But that was before the arrival of the new Warriors’ gaffer Michael Nees, yet to lose a game since he came on board.
Firat, whose side also takes on Namibia next week, reckons the team is in a tough group.
“Till now, Zimbabwe are yet to concede a goal whereas Namibia, even though they don’t have a point yet, that just goes to show you the quality of our group. Namibia, in their World Cup qualifiers, they are second in their group. We are aware of how strong these two teams are but it doesn’t change the fact that we want to win,” he said.
The Indomitable Lions lead Goup J with 10 points after playing four games with three wins and a draw. The Warriors are second with eight points from two wins and two draws.
Kenya are on the third spot with a win and a draw while Namibia have lost all their four games.
The Warriors started trickling into South Africa on Sunday with the last batch of players from abroad expected to have jetted in yesterday.
A point from Friday’s match sees the Warriors through to the Afcon finals in Morocco next year.
