Mathare United head coach Collins ‘Korea’ Omondi believes that approaching games with relegation fears in their heads has been their major undoing, with the 2008 Kenyan Premier League champions starring at the drop.United are second last in the log, and their only hope of avoiding the drop is dislodging Wazito FC from the playoff spot. Wazito are 16th in the log with 23 points, while the Slum Boys are a point adrift with three matches left before the season concludes.##NAJAVA_MECA_7290490##The Slum Boys have lost ten matches in a row and are on a run that has seen them drop 30 points, and Korea, who was recently named head coach until the end of the campaign, says they need to shake off relegation fears and play to get maximum points in games.”We have to stop facing games with the mentality that we are fighting relegation; we need to play to win games; we just need to shelve our relegation fears and score goals to win matches. We are dropping points in matches that weke should be winning because we have put ourselves under pressure by focusing on fighting relegation. I want them to play and enjoy football and try to do the right things on the pitch,” he said.He adds that the fear has led them to miss easy goal-scoring chances and wants his players to be calmer in front of goal.”We need to be relaxed and take the chances we get; we shouldn’t be in a hurry when in good positions because that is how we waste chances,” he added.Korea has been in charge of the Slum Boys for four games, losing all four, but he believes the struggles have been due to the lack of cohesion and low fitness levels he found in the team.”There was cohesion in the team when I joined; fitness levels were also low because in nine games they had conceded either in the first 15 or final 15 minutes of the match, and that shows there were also contestation problems, but right now I can say all that has changed; we are playing well as a unit both in defense and going forward; what is left is for us to score goals,” he added.Mathare’s next assignment is an away match against Kakamega Homeboyz.
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