AFC Leopards continued their poor preseason showings with the latest loss, being a 4-1 thumping to Mathare United on Friday morning. 

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While it’s a bit harsh to fault a team which played on Sunday away to Yanga SC in Tanzania, to play this kind of tournament consisting of four KPL teams all playing each other across three days is somehow hectic.

A 2-0 loss to KCB in the opener followed was by a 4-1 hammering to Mathare, all in a space of two days. 

Perhaps Ingwe did not adjust too well with the fixture congestion. It’s a worrying form for Ingwe, who are still yet to pick up a win. And fans are starting to get worried about the teams direction with one week to go until the start of the new season.

However, fans should not read too much into the results as player fitness is more important than the final score. 

Head coach Casa Mbungo opted to split the squad into two in order to give minutes to all players, as they took on both KCB and Mathare.

Against KCB, Mbungo selected the same starting XI that played Yanga SC on Sunday and it was always going to be hard to even get a draw having only recovered for two days. 

The tired legs was reflected in the performance as they lost 2-0. 

Against Mathare, meanwhile, Mbungo was left with no choice but to field a weakened side which in return lost 4-1. 

Fans should not be skeptical about the results; it has been a promising run for this Ingwe side so far, narrowly losing to Yanga, before this tournament, so they will take plenty of positives heading into the start of the season.