Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy says his recent trend of incorporating new players to his provisional team in camp is a precautionary measure to get him the strongest squad for the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN).McCarthy, in the first week of residential training, has caught the attention of some keen eyes by calling up fresh names to his team, while playing what he referred to as being bad cop, by axing some of them altogether.Mozzart Sport on Wednesday, 16 July reported of the dropping of six players from the initial 30-man provisional squad, and the subsequent calling up of Kenya Police midfielder Marvin Nabwire, goalkeeper Bryne Omondi, and veteran Anthony Akumu.REPORTS: McCarthy calls up Kenya Police midfielder, drops 5 from Harambee Stars squadA day later, McCarthy kept up the trend with the arrival of Kenya Police striker Clinton Kinanga, while the pair of Posta Rangers’ Felix Oluoch and Masud Juma were pictured in Harambee Stars’ training on Friday 18 July.Masud Juma trained with the Harambee Stars CHAN Squad today #FootballKE#belvineomondi#TotalEnergiesCHAN2024 pic.twitter.com/GcT2P232LX— Belvine Omondi (@OmondiBelvine) July 18, 2025 Addressing his rationale, McCarthy said it was a means of leaving him sure of having the best 23-man squad for the upcoming home tournament on 2-30 August.“As the days go by and training sessions intensifies, players start to pick knocks and injuries,” McCarthy said. “The more we bring in players is to try and see how we can help the boys who have got some injury niggles, before we make a final decision on the 23-man squad. We have to be absolutely sure.”McCarthy on six dropped Harambee Stars playersOn Wednesday, McCarthy pointed towards the strict regime injured playmaker Mohammed Bajaber – who did individual training – was under to help get him up to speed, while there was an acknowledgement of Ryan Ogam’s fitness journey after sustaining a knee injury in January.Marvin Nabwire breaks silence on friendly that earned him a Harambee Stars call upKCB’s Mathias Isogol joined the provisional team while recovering from an injury, while sources indicated Bandari’s Beja Nyamawi was also not fully fit in camp.McCarthy explains inclusion of injured Bajaber in Harambee Stars CHAN squadAddressing the concerns, McCarthy said: “You do not want to get to a tournament and then lose two or three players to injuries while you have got a warning sign already. I think it is just precautionary measures – see the players’ fitness levels and how serious these knocks and niggles are, before we make that final decision to select the actual 23-man squad.”##NAJAVA_MECA_9023586##McCarthy will hope to see more in the coming weeks, with the Harambee Stars team heading out to Arusha on Saturday, 18 July for the CECAFA Four Nations Tournament.
