Record 17-time league champions SC Villa play their final game against bottom side Calvary on Wednesday before heading into the month-long Afcon break.
They start match-day 11 in third place just three points off leaders KCCA in what can be described as a decent start to the season.
The same can however not be said about arguably their best player over the past two seasons in Patrick Kakande.
The playmaker is yet to start a game for the Jogoos with the situation unlikely to change at lease until next year according to his coach Željko Kovacevic.
‘Kakande is a player who is in our plans but he did not do preseason with the team and when he returned he got injured,’ Kovacevic responded when asked about the player’s absence after a recent game.
Kakande missed pre-season as he alongside Reagan Mpande and Arnold Odong featured for the Chan team.
While Mpande was quickly reintegrated into the team a muscle injury saw Kakande, the 2024 league MVP miss the first five games.
Matters have not been helped by a change in playing style at the club with Kovacevic championing the collective effort instead of reliance on individual brilliance.
The approach has brought the best in a number of players with Najib Yiga, Hassan Mubiru and Aslam Ssemakula thriving and also contributing defensively whenever the team is not in possession.
Even the departure of Reagan Mpande has not translated into a starting role for Kakande with the coach using natural centre forwards Frank Ssebuufu, Charles Lwanga and Andrew Otim.
According to close sources at the club, Kakande also did not do any favours with his situation when he left a team camp without communicating and was reportedly fined by the club in November.
It however still remains a mystery that players such as former Proline forward Jerome Otim seem to have gone ahead of Kakande.
Otim was the final substitute in Villa’s 3-1 win over URA as Kakande remained an unused substitute.
It remains to be seen whether Kakande who signed a two-year contract extension at the start of the season can force his way into the side during the month-long break.
UPL Fixtures – Wednesday
Maroons vs Express, 4pm
Mbarara City vs URA, 4pm
Lugazi FC vs Vipers SC, 4pm
SC Villa vs Calvary FC, 8pm