Accra Hearts of Oak aim to bounce back to winning ways against King Faisal on match day 23 of the Ghana Premier League on Sunday.
The former champions have bagged 34 points after 22 matches and sit in 4th place in the log. They beat King Faisal 2-1 in the first round of the season – their first away win this term and aim for the double over the Insha Allah lads. Umar Manaf converted a last gasp penalty to give them all the spoils at the Ohene Ameyaw Park in December last year.
They have huffed and puffed in the League and changed three coaches in the course of the campaign. Edward Odoom who began the season was replaced by Kosta Papic half through the journey before Samuel Boadu succeeded him in March.
The former Asokwa Deportivo and Shooting Stars FC coach is jostling to turn things around for his new employers but results have not been overly impressive. Hearts of Oak have won two and drawn one in their last five outings – with the other two ending in defeats to AshantiGold SC and Dreams FC.
Raddy Ovouka continues to remain on the side-lines due to an injury he picked up on International duty with Congo Brazzaville – with William Dankyi being the only option at left back.
Benjamin Afutu and Frederick Ansah Botchwey are back in the team after recovering from injury – but Coach Boadu must find a suitable replacement for Nuru Sulley who got red carded against Dreams FC on Sunday.
King Faisal are 17th in the League table with 23 points – 7 points richer than Inter Allies who sit at the foot of the table with 16 points. The Green and White have won only one match on the road – a 1-0 victory against Inter Allies on match day 21 at Dawu.
They gave away a first half lead to draw 1-1 with Karela United on Sunday and will fight every tooth and nail for the points against Hearts of Oak in their quest for survival.
Latif Salifu, Dalad Ibrahim, Paul Aidoo, Eric Donkor and Ibrahim Suraj have brought some fresh around the club – but their presence has yet to translate into results.
The match is scheduled for 6pm kick off at the Accra sports stadium on Sunday – Broadcast holder StarTimes will broadcast the match live at Adepa channel 247.
