Hard-tackling Tusker midfieder Apollo Otieno has urged the team to take full advantage of home advantage and put Tunisian side CS Sfaxien when the two sides clash at the Nyayo national Stadium in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup playoff.The Kenyan champions are set to host Sfaxien next Sunday and Apollo has challenged the team to find the back of the visitors as many times and carry a big advantage to the return leg set for a week later.Meja reveals areas he is sharpening ahead of his AIK moveTusker were relegated to the continental inter-club second tier after a 5-0 on aggregate humiliation by Egyptian giants Zamalek in the second round of the top tier tournament.Sfaxien who have clinched the Confederation Cup three times on the other hand booked a place in the playoff after eliminating Nigerian outfit Bayelsa 4-1 on aggregate.Apollo opines Tusker would have at least registered a win over Zamalek had they capitalized on home comfort in the first leg staged at Nyayo on October 16.📽️| Young midfielder Apollo Otieno is slowly building himself up as one of the best defensive midfielders around.🗣️| “I have worked really hard in training to be consistently playing. The senior players in the team have helped me a lot”#Brewers4Life | @TuskerLager | pic.twitter.com/czOzMYEVpK— 🏆Tusker FC (@tusker_fc) January 16, 2021 “We have been plotting on how to tower past the Sfaxien hurdle and advance to the group stages in the daily training sessions. Even as we continue to prepare, I encourage the team to make sure that we win the first leg in a convincing way so that we have something to cling on in the away tie,” he said.Apollo who admitted to have picked vital lessons having rubbed shoulders with Zamalek midfielders said he had learnt to have quick feet in carrying the ball and positioning on the pitch.##NAJAVA_MECA_5990943##The former Sony Sugar man said the experience the team gathered from accosting Zamalek will go a long way in their forthcoming clash even as they seek to break the existing jinx Kenyan clubs have had against North African opponents.”We learnt a lot from the past two rounds against Zamelek and Arta Solar. At a personal level, I realized that the continental stage requires a defensive midfielder to carry the ball forward quickly and have discipline in positioning,” he stated.The dread-locked midfielder in the meantime said that the competition for playing time from Kenyan international Clyde Senaji and former national U23 midfielder Teddy Osok had made the department stronger.
