Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat made two late changes to his squad as defender Aboud Omar and midfielder Erik Johanna were left behind ahead of the Four-Nations tournament in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Stars arrived safely in the Malawi capital on Thursday with Omar, who features for Kenya Police in the FKF Premier League being replaced by AFC Leopards left-back Vincent Mahiga, while Sweden-based Timothy Ouma, took the place of Johanna, who turns out for Romanian Liga I club UTA Arad.

Another late inclusion saw Gor Mahia’s attacking midfielder Shariff Musa, who initially had been dropped from the final squad, being recalled and making the cut.

FKF CEO Barry Otieno, who accompanied the team to Malawi, said the team was in a great mood to post a good outing at the tournament which will bring together hosts Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“The coach (Firat) was forced to make three late changes to the squad before we left Nairobi, Omar and Johanna stayed behind for reasons best known to him while Mahiga and Shariff (Musa) came into the squad,” said Otieno, adding: “The players are looking ready to play in the tournament and we are optimistic of a good outing.”

Kenya will open their FIFA window assignment on Saturday (tomorrow) against Malawi at Bingu National Stadium at 1700 hours after Zambia have played Zimbabwe at the same venue, kicking off at 1400 hours.

Winners of the two matches will face off on March 26 while the losers will play each other in the early kickoff on the same day.