Kakamega Homeboyz head coach Patrick Odhiambo has urged his charges to brush aside their painful Caf Confederations exit and focus on the Kenyan Premier League campaign.
A humiliating 4-1 away defeat to Libya's Al Hilal Benghazi over the weekend ended Homeboyz's participation in Africa's second-biggest inter-club tournament.
"It's human nature to get discouraged by such an outcome. I have held serious discussions with the players and reiterated the importance of putting our disappointment aside for our good," Odhiambo said.
"We can't spend any more time gnashing teeth over our mistakes. It's time to move on and train our minds on the project at hand, which is the KPL," he added.
On Saturday, Homeboyz travel to central Kenya, where they will take on top-tier newbies Murang'a Seal, who secured a morale-boosting 1-0 win over Shabana at Raila Odinga Stadium, Homabay last weekend.
"Our target is to win the league and so we intend to gather as many points as we can from our fix beginning this Saturday," Odhiambo said.
The gaffer cautioned his talent-laden squad against underestimating their opponents who are generally perceived as inexperienced.
"We know they are hungry for top-flight glory and will do everything they can to make a statement in their fixtures against seasoned teams," Odhiambo said.
"We are expecting a tough match. We will be facing a club that is fresh off a morale-boosting victory in their first match. Additionally, they went ahead and signed some new players who have previously competed in the KPL."
Odhiambo said they will fight tooth and nail to grace the continental stage again next season.
"We have tested the Caf Confederations Cup and we are looking forward to another chance to put up a better show next season. We must work extremely hard for another opportunity," Odhiambo stated.
"We could have easily advanced to the next stage but ended up making some costly mistakes that occasioned our exit," he said.
He hopes his players had gleaned invaluable lessons from their torrid Caf Confederations Cup campaign.
"It was a nice experience despite the loss. We came out of the battlefield a lot more experienced. I believe we shall bounce back strongly in our next campaign," Odhiambo stated.
"There are some grave errors that you cannot afford to make at that level. We were erratic in our box made clumsy clearances, and got dispossessed so easily. We also squandered glaring goalscoring opportunities," Odhiambo said.
Homeboyz players may have been fatigued from intense preparations for the continental showpiece, but Odhiambo is unconcerned.
"I have a large pool of players to draw from and so I can easily and conveniently rotate the duty roaster. All the players we signed this season are capable of fighting for the title," Odhiambo remarked.
