Gor Mahia head coach Johnathan McKinstry has confidently backed his striker Benson Omala to have a big future ahead of him both in his club and international career despite his surprise omission from Engin Firat’s latest Harambee Stars squad that is set to take on Iran in a friendly match on 28 March 2023.In the 24-man travelling party selected for the upcoming assignment that will mark Kenya’s first match since November 2021, Omala, who is having the season of his life after bagging 19 goals in the opening twenty games, was surprisingly not picked as Firat settled on team captain Michael Olunga, Masud Juma and Norway based Alfred Scriven.Following the snub that raised a lot of uproar from fans in the country, a relaxed McKinstry expressed unwavering belief that the former Western Stima would come back even stronger from the minor setback and would go on to have success in his career.”This is not the last opportunity for him (Omala). I know he is going to have a big future not just here at K’Ogalo but also for the Harambee Stars. I know he will score a lot of international goals but every coach has the way he wants his team to play, and in this moment the technical bench have decided one way and we have got to accept that,”Masud Juma passes late fitness test as Firat names final Harambee Stars squad to face Iran”We know Benson is going to come back. He is chasing that Golden Boot record in Kenya and we are confident he can do that and by scoring more goals in the green of K’Ogalo, he can help push us towards our targets this season,” he said in an interview with Sports Eye.##NAJAVA_MECA_7131989##The head coach was however quick to point out that the striker was far from being the finished article as he has some areas still to improve in his game. He however heaped praise on Omala for his hard work that has already shown improvement in the coach’s first season with K’Ogalo who are chasing a record extending twentieth league title as they sit five points at the top of the table.”He (Omala) also knows he is not the finished article. He has got stuff he has to improve in his game but equally he has shown real improvement in the first 20 games this season and there is even going to be more improvement in the remaining fourteen and the years to come,” he said.
