APR FC head coach Abderrahim Taleb has said his side will play attacking football but without taking risks during Saturday's Rwanda Premier League clash against Rayon Sports. Defending champions APR will face-off with arch-rivals Rayon Sport at Amahoro Stadium, in the league’s most contested game. A win for APR will move them to third place with 11 points while victory for Rayon will see them move to 16 points, level with the current log leaders, Police FC. Speaking in a press conference this week, Taleb said it is a tough game but noted that he has experience of such matchups since he has handled a number of them in his home country, Morocco. Taleb has coached various top African clubs like AS FAR, Wydad and Renaissance Sportive de Berkane. He added that in highly competitive games, coaches prefer to be cautious, but he noted that he has no plans to change his usual style of play. “It is a ‘derby’ but it is a normal game,” he noted. Talking about injuries at the club, he said that Burkinabe striker Djibril Ouattara is back in training. Regarding APR FC’s failure to win in two recent league games, coach Taleb talked about some challenges including that the team had been without some of its players. He mentioned that five players: Memel Dao, Djibril Ouattara, Mamadou Sy, Yussif Dauda, and Gilbert Mugisha, have not been available. He noted that the team had played four games and asked fans to be patient, emphasizing that it was difficult to replace five players in two games and still perform normally. He also pointed out that refereeing mistakes that went against his team had cost them points in the last two matches. On Wednesday, Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) suspended referee Justin Karangwa for four weeks following officiating errors during a Rwanda Premier League match between APR FC and Rutsiro FC on Saturday, November 1. Karangwa’s suspension stemmed from a controversial decision to disallow a potential winning goal for APR FC. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. In the 75th minute, APR FC forward William Togui appeared to have scored a second goal after heading in a cross from Hakim Kiwanuka, but the assistant referee, Justin Karangwa, flagged for offside, and the goal was ruled out. Taleb urged FERWAFA to ensure that football development was supported by quality refereeing. After four games, APR FC are in eighth place with eight points, preparing to face Rayon Sports, which are in second place with 13 points from six games.
