Ghana Premier League: Kotoko coach Karim Zito fires Heart of Lions warning shot

The Kpando Stadium will witness one of the top fixtures of the Ghana Premier League when Heart of Lions host record holders Asante Kotoko in week 21 on Saturday, January 31at the 3:30GMT.

Heart of Lions have managed just one win in their last ten matches and they will need to play above themselves against a Kotoko side who have strikers, Albert Amoah, Kwame Opoku and Guinean import Morifing Donzo firing from all cylinders.

Kotoko however, travel for the game from an impressive 3-0 win over Holy Stars in week 20 at the Baba Yara Stadium and head coach Karim Zito analyzed their chances ahead of the journe.

“The only thing we have to do is to play and win. After the first round we hope for the second round but after the second we don’t have any hope again,’ Karim Zito told Kotoko TV.

Kotoko sit third on the league table after 20 games

“So we are working towards that and we are working with a positive mentality in this second round [because] anything can happen but we are going with the mentality of winning.

“We have to forget about the past and think about the present because in football anything can happen and it all depends on the mentality you are going in to the game with so we are forgetting about the difficulty and we are going in to play a game.

“We want to come out with a nice game and win the game because we are going in with the present situation to go and win.

Head coach of Heart of Lions, Bashir Hayford describes the upcoming contest as one that will be very tough.

The coach, however, is confident that Heart of Lions can match Asante Kotoko and secure a positive result at the end of the game.

Heart of Lions have won just once in ten matches

“I think it is a very tedious task. It is a match where we shouldn’t underrate anybody. We are preparing very well because we know they are a strong team. They are back to their winning ways. Although we are struggling, we will make sure we will prepare well to meet them,” Bashir Hayford told Heart of Lions TV.

Asante Kotoko are in third on the league table with 35 points same as Aduana FC and Hearts of Oak after 20 while Heart of Lions sit in 7th on 27 points from 20 league games.