Duncan: We will be balanced in our approach

03 April 2015 11:54

Head coach of Ghana’s Asante Kotoko, David Duncan had said the former continental champions will be balanced in their approach as they host Algerian side MC Eulma in the second 1/16th round of the 2015 Orange CAF Champions League on Sunday at the Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi.

Duncan who joined Kotoko, barely a fortnight ago and led the team to a goalless draw game in the first leg tie in Algeria a fortnight ago told Cafonline.com, the Porcupine Warriors will seek to progress at the expense of the visitors.

He said “we will be balanced in our approach. We will deploy men to attack when necessary. We always go into matches with the aspiration to win and this one will not be different.

“We have a high pedigree in African football and hope to use this as a psychological advantage to overcome our opponents. The technical team is working on the psyche of the players to get them in the right shape of mind to give us the desired results.”

Kotoko, winners in 1970 and 1983 must avoid a scoring draw and win to advance in the competition they play as Ghana’s sole representative and Duncan who previously coached rivals Hearts of Oak says his team is not oblivious of the task ahead.

Highlighting their preparations for the match which could be decided on penalties should both sides settle for another goalless draw, he said all grounds were covered for such outcomes.

Duncan said that “we have time in our training sessions to rehearse on penalty kicks in order to improve on the techniques”, as Kotoko chase a place at the mini-league stage for the first time since 2006.

The coach who sounded cautiously optimistic said that the intentions of his team would be to parade a strong side, keep their shape and a clean sheet in their envisaged forward march.

The Ghana champions have a documented history of failed attempts at reaching the last eight of the continent’s elite club competition since 2006.

Confederation of African Football (CAF) News