Ethiopia Walia Ibex are hoping for a winning climax to their campaign when they play host to Seychelles in the Group J Day 6 clash on Saturday at the newly built Hawassa Stadium, 300-kilometres of the capital, Addis Ababa.
Interim coach Gebremedhin Haile has been preparing with his quad for the past three weeks in Hawassa.
The Ethiopian trainer has settled on 25 players including for the encounter in his quest for victory to boost their standings though hopes of qualification hangs on a thread. The Walias are on eight points, five adrift of leaders Algeria, who are Gabon bound.
“All my players attended the training session at the Hawassa stadium. Though our chance of going through to the finals is slim as one of the best runners-up, we will play our best to secure the three points on Saturday.
“Our chance depends not only on our win but by other results. It is better to understand it this way; mathematically our chance is not dead. In any case, what is important for us is to win against Seychelles,” said Haile.
The Ethiopia were held to a 1-1 in the previous meeting between the two sides in Victoria last September.
Meanwhile, Algeria will host Lesotho in the other Group J clash on Sunday in Blida.
