Wednesday Sunrise Vs APR 15:30 APR skipper Jean Baptiste Mugiraneza has urged his teammates to treat the clash against Sunrise as a must-win as the champions seek to extend their Azam Rwanda Premier League lead to seven points following Sunday’s 2-0 victory over rivals Police. Nyagatare-based Sunrise host Jimmy Mulisa’s army side on Wednesday – starting at 3:30pm – in a rescheduled match-day 7 encounter. Thanks to goals from forwards Muhadjiri Hakizimana and Ernest Sugira, APR beat Police 2-0 to go four points clear ahead of second-placed Rayon Sports who have 31 points from 15 games. Speaking to Times Sport on Tuesday, Mugiraneza, also commonly known as Migi, challenged his APR teammates to “take every game seriously as we aim to win every competition we engage in this season” before emphasising that the match against Sunrise is a must-win. He said: “The victory against Police came easier than we anticipated. However, the title race is wide open and any mistake could see us losing the top spot, we can’t afford that. We take one game at a time, and Sunrise are our challenge at the moment – that’s where we are focused now.” Mugiraneza says that they are eyeing the double of league and Peace Cup titles and APR players have enough quality and experience to achieve it, but they will need to step up their game and be extremely focused. The black-and-white outfit have not won a domestic double since the 2013/2014 season. The former Gor Mahia midfielder insisted, “I believe we have a strong squad that can beat any team, and I have confidence in my teammates, but that should not be a reason for complacency. We should prepare for every game with a winning mentality.” APR have won the league – Peace Cup double ten times since their 1995 maiden success. Others came in; 1996, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 editorial@newtimes.co.rw
