SIMBA defender Che Malone Fondoh believes they will do well in the 2024/25 campaign but warned his teammates to prepare for a tough challenge.

Simba ended last season in third place behind league winners Young Africans and Azam, having enjoyed an underwhelming campaign that also saw them eliminated in the Federation Cup, CAF Champions League, and African Football League. 

They had prepared for the previous campaign with a trip to Turkey and Che Malone is hoping that this camp in Egypt is more productive for Simba. 

Simba arrived in Ismailia last week ahead of a three-week pre-season training camp that will see them play five build-up games against Egyptian opponents as they gear up to take part in five different competitions next season. 

Che Malone said they are not going to the new season blindfolded instead they expect it to be tougher than the last one which was underwhelming.  

“The training is good. We have now trained for five days and every single day there is an improvement. I believe the work we have done in these five days will happen this year because everyone is willing to work to achieve this season’s goals. 

“The new technical team is there to push us, to support in order to move forward and attain our objectives this year. 

“They give us the necessary advice we need, directives we need in order to move forward towards the objectives.

“We have five trophies to partake in this season and I believe with the training sessions we are doing everything will go well, but we need to be determined because it will not be easy. 

“I believe this season will be tougher than the last so we just need to work together, train harder and everything will go well,” he said.

Simba will start the 2024/25 season with Community Shield engagement on August 8. 

The NBC Premier League will follow suit a week later. 

In September, Simba, who were among the 12 exempted clubs to feature in the first preliminary rounds of the CAF Confederation Cup, will face the aggregate winner between Zanzibar’s Uhamiaji and Libya’s Federation Cup winners in the group stage playoffs round.