AS Muhanga head coach Abdul Mbarushimana has made it clear that he only wants to see his side playing top flight football next season.
Tuesday’s goalless draw against ASPOR at Rugende Stadium was enough for AS Muhanga to book a ticket to the 2022/23 second division playoffs and Mbarushimana rallied his men to keep their top form in order to earn a promotion to Rwanda Premier League.
The Southern Province-based club, which takes roots from defunct Flash FC, has had a slow start to the second division football season but the coach managed to turn the results around en route to securing a ticket to the payoffs, joining Group A table leaders Etoile de l’Est and Vision who dropped to third while Group B’s Amagaju, Nyanza FC, Gicumbi FC, Intare FC have already qualified as well.
The team may have sealed a berth in the playoffs but Mbarushimana warned his men that the real test is awaiting them.
"We’re excited for the qualification but at the same time we shift our sights on what awaits us in the next round,” he told Times Sport in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
"AS Muhanga is a team that, in its tradition, doesn’t belong here (Second Division) and, from the beginning, our main objective has been to qualify to the Premier League despite our slow start. So we have everything to fight for in the next round,” he added.
Muhanga conclude their regular season campaign with a game against Ivoire Olympique on Friday, March 24. The latter and La Jeunesse are battling for the only remaining ticket to the playoffs. Their fate will be decided depending on how they fare during the final stages of the regular season.
Ivoire Olympique’s chances of qualifying to the playoffs are partly in the hands of AS Muhanga but Mbarushimana does not care about the opponent’s situation as his side is also in contention of finishing in the second place in an attempt to avoid a tougher opponent draw during the playoffs.
"We have to win our last match to cement our second place, because it will help us to play our second leg game at home in the playoffs,” the former Amagaju FC gaffer said.