Ulinzi Stars tactician Benjamin Nyangweso has termed James Saruni’s return to the side a morale booster following the custodian’s absence in the back to back matches against Kakamega Homeboyz.Saruni was withdrawn in the second half against FC Talanta at Ruaraka and replaced with Jacktone Odhiambo, who also took charge of the matches against Kakamega Homeboyz between the sticks.The custodian, the reigning golden glove winner, was instrumental for Ulinzi against Nairobi City Stars last weekend and made point-blank saves to put his side in the game, with his presence being hugely felt across.”The return of Saruni is a morale boost to the side. He is our team captain and leads by example in terms of performance and that was evident against City Stars. It obviously did add something to the team,” Nyangweso said.The coach further revealed that the season has not been lenient to his side despite playing well, with wins being elusive.Currently, the Soldiers are on a five-match winless streak that has three losses and two draws and will be looking to put an end to that run, their second stint of such kind this season, when they take on Nairobi City Stars at the Ulinzi Sports Complex in Lang’ata on Monday.According to Nyangweso, the team’s major undoing this season has been lack of scoring which has seen them find the back of the net only 15 times, joint least with relegation-placed Vihiga Bullets.”The season has been slightly difficult. We have been playing well but we have not been winning. We have not been scoring enough and that has been our main problem,” he added.Ulinzi are still in unfamiliar territories at position 14 and will be hoping to build on the draw against Simba wa Nairobi to lift off the bottom half of the standings.
