Assistant coach of Accra Hearts of Oak Yaw ‘Rush’ Preko has noted that the absence of head coach Kenichi Yastuhashi in their MTN FA Cup tie against Wassaman FC did not affect the team, even though they “missed him” on the bench.
Coach Yatsuhashi was admitted to the Ridge Hospital on Friday after he was alleged to have collapsed.
The 46 year old Japanese –American trainer who was understood to have recovered before the game on Sunday, was advised by doctors to take rest for some time, which ruled him out of the FA Cup match.
Assistant coach Preko filled the managerial void created and won the game 3-0 with a relatively second string side.
Back from injury strikers Kenneth Okoro and Kwame Kizito fetched the Phobians all the three goals with the former getting a brace and the latter scoring one.
Coach Preko described the performance of the players as one that brings a healthy competition to the team, “Today we played a lot of the players who are coming back from injury and those who have not played for a long time. I think it is good for the team if you have players who are back from long injury, scoring goals for us. I am happy for what they (players) are bringing to the team.”
He said though they missed him on the bench, they have to do their best to reward him with a victory.
"We have missed our head coach today. I think the team wasn’t bad in his absence though. Hopefully he will start training this week and you will see him for our next game,” Preko noted.
The Rainbow boys will play next in the league at the Accra Sports Stadium against second placed team Wa All Stars.
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