Kenyan international Joseph Okumu, who plays for Belgian outfit KAA Gent, has expressed his confidence in the team turning around their matchday one 1-2 defeat at the hands of St. Truiden on the opening day of the 2020/2021 Belgian Pro League.Since completing his move from Swedish side IF Elfsborg on 20th June, Okumu was handed his maiden debut at the club in the first league match of the season and the Harambee Stars defender was unfortunate to go down in defeat in his first game with the club.Speaking after his first start, the defender expressed his disappointment at not having the perfect start to life at the club.”It is a debut that I would have liked to see end differently. We started well, but made mistakes too easily when we conceded the first goal. In the second half we took the game to our side, but we were unable to reverse that end result,” he is quoted on the club’s portal.First start for our Kenyan newcomer @okumu_stanley! 🇰🇪💪 pic.twitter.com/a54WSMHgQW— KAA Gent (@KAAGent) July 25, 2021 Despite the loss, the former Chemelil Sugar player backed his side to come up good in the next games as it is still too early to beat up themselves as there is call for alarm just yet.”It was a disappointing game, but we should not magnify this result. It is only matchday 1 and crazy things often happen in opening games. This doesn’t have to be a sign of our season, it’s much too early for that. Let us show what we stand for in the next games,” he added.Asked about how he coped in his first match in Belgium who mostly use artificial turf for their games, the soft-spoken defender did not put any excuses on the field of play and promised to get better in his new environment.“I’m not going to put it on the field if that’s what you mean. In Sweden, we mostly played on artificial grass, so that’s just me. I still have to get used to the pace of the game, but competitions are the best school for that,” he concluded.FT 2-1 | Deja vu op Stayen #stvvgnt #jpl pic.twitter.com/Im1tPCwOd3— KAA Gent (@KAAGent) July 25, 2021 After missing the first leg of the 4-0 win over Norwegian side Valeranga in the qualifying rounds of the Europa Conference League, Okumu, who has been included in the travelling party for the second leg, will be hoping to get his debut in the European competition when they play again on Thursday evening.
