The defender has been part of the Wekundu wa Msimbazi contingent that qualified for the knockout phase of the continental competition
Simba SC assistant captain Mohamed Hussein has explained why he feels the Mainland Premier League games are tougher than Caf Champions League engagements.
Simba will host Mtibwa Sugar at the Benjamin Mkapab Stadium on Wednesday for a league tie and Hussein has drawn comparisons between the local games and the ones in the Champions League where they have managed to reach the knockout stage.
“It is not that we are always tired when we play local rivals, we happen to get good results in international games because the rivals sometimes do not know us as much as a local rival would,” Hussein told Azam TV.
“Playing more often against local teams mean that we understand ourselves more in terms of strategies and approaches and that makes the local games even harder.”
The Taifa Stars defender also spoke about the preparations they have had before the Mtibwa Sugar encounter on Wednesday.
“We have had the best preparations and the prayer now is to the fans that they come out in their numbers to support us. They need to come out and witness the team play since we have been away on international engagements,” added the fullback.
“We are coming back stronger but we also know it is not going to be an easy game at all.”
A win for Simba will see the gap between them and current leaders Yanga SC reduced to just two but Tshabalala, as Hussein is fondly referred to, said they will only focus on their duties and not what their rivals are doing.
“On matters of the title defence and the current race, it is upon every team to fight for their points in their respective games. If you keep looking at what the rival is doing, you may end up losing focus completely,” he concluded.
“As players, we always aim to get three points from each and every game that is ahead of us.”
As Simba plot to win the home tie, Mtibwa Sugar interim head coach Soud Salim stated they have got a strategy to counter the champions.
“We have analysed Simba and we know they have a good attacking line and a good run both in the local and international games but we have done our part and we have advised our players how to deal with them accordingly,” Salim said.
It is a game that Wekundu wa Msimbazi are hugely tipped to win given that the Sugar Millers are without a win in the last five games and are now 15th with 24 points.
