Ghana Premier League: “Kotoko must not cry over Albert Amoah’s departure” – Karim Zito

Asante Kotoko will turn attention to the Ghana Premier League after their horrible CAF Confederation Cup campaign where they suffered elimination at the second preliminary round of the competition against Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco.

The Porcupine Warriors lost 1-0 in the first leg before succumbing to a 5-1 defeat in the reverse fixture to take home a 6-1 aggregate loss over the two legs.

The two time African champions will now shift to the week eight Ghana Premier League fixture against an impressive Karela United at the Baba Yara Stadium on Sunday and head coach of the club, Karim Zito stresses the need to recover from the bad continental campaign.

Kotoko must recover from CAF Confederation Cup debacle

“We have to recover [from the loss to Wydad] because it’s part of the moment. We are out of it [the Confederation Cup], and we should face reality and prepare for the league if we want to go back again [to compete in Africa],” he told Kotoko’s media team.

The experienced trainer has expressed worry over the club’s lack of consistency during their continental campaign. The Porcupine Warriors managed to scale past Nigeria’s Kwara United with a 5-3 aggregate score over two legs but could not withstand the wrath of the Moroccan giants in the second phase.

Karim Zito stresses the need for consistency to achieve success

“We lack a lot of things but the most important is the consistency we don’t have. This team was built about five to six months ago,” he said ahead of the game against Karela United.

“You can easily see that they [Wydad] they are there for about three, four seasons. It’s about team work not about individual players.

“All we need now is to be consistent in our team building; consistency goes with quality. Once injuries, transfers set in definitely you won’t get the consistency,” he added.

Kotoko sold their top most striker, Albert Amoah to Libyan outfit, Al Ahly Benghazi a few hours after exiting the CAF Confederation Cup, a move that sent shockwaves down the spine of the fans.

Karim Zito however believes that, other players are being groomed to fit into the shoes of Albert Amoah who has scored two goals in three matches before his departure to Libya.

“It’s all about attitude. Definitely, he is gone. There is no need to continue crying. We won’t get him back, so we are preparing the other players to take over,” Zito said.

“It’s up to the players to also prove that they deserve to be there. We must continue with what we have to get what we want,” he added.

Asante Kotoko have played four matches with three outstanding games to clear due to their involvement in the CAF Confederation Cup. They have eight points and seated in ninth and they need to beat Karela United to move up the league ladder.