Batambuze itching to break goal duck in Zambian

Former Gor Mahia left back Shafik Batambuze has promised to open his goal account in the Zambian league this weekend when Kabwe Warriors take on Green Buffaloes. Batambuze who joined Warriors in January after parting ways with Gor in November last year has been on a form of his own, registering five assists in eleven matches since making his debut in the competition.

The overlapping full back had sat out of active football for nearly one and half years prior to joining Warriors due to a nasty knee injury suffered against Burundi's Aigle Noir in a Caf Champions League preliminary round return match at Kasarani Stadium.

However, he has rediscovered his form in Zambia and has pledged to hunt down Buffaloes and end his search for his first goal in the league which he labelled as two times tougher than the Kenyan one.

"The Zambian league is more competitive than the Kenyan one but I have managed to give five assists in eleven games. I have a strong feeling that I will score my first league goal this weekend when we play the Buffaloes. I am talented in defending and going forward and have a strong eye for goals. I can score from freekicks, long shots or headers.," he swore in a telephone interview.

The former Western Stima defender opened up on how he managed to keep fit after resuming training in August last year. 

He said he was forced to relocate to the Entebbe to access the sandy shores of Lake Victoria which he noted helped him regain power in the limp.

The dread-locked player who joined Gor in November 2018 replacing his counterpart Godfrey Walusimbi who mysteriously bolted to Kaizer Chiefs also pointed out that the long break occasioned by coronavirus gave him sufficient time to heal and to rediscover his form.

"I was not in a hurry to sign a deal after the doctor cleared me to resume training.I wanted to focus on my fitness which came after intense training at the shores of the lake, gym work and swimming. By the time the Warriors deal came, I was fit enough to play in any league," he explained.

Having suffered anguish and neglect in his final year at Gor, Batambuze in the meantime insisted that he had no hard feelings towards the record Kenyan champions.

The former Tusker player was left on his own after tearing his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and it took the intervention and donations from fellow players to have the former Sony Sugar man operated on.

Batambuze who was part of the Uganda Cranes squad to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Cup finals said he was open to a return to the club should they give him a better package.

"I have nothing against Gor,I enjoyed my stay and the achievements we managed as a team.We won the league, reached the quarterfinals of the Caf Confederations Cup and had many other good memories. I wouldn't mind to play for them again although it will depend on the offer they will table," he said.