Junior Starlets' head coach Mildred Cheche during a training session/ HANDOUT

 Faith Boke, Noelina Akuku, Marcy Awuor and Mwanakombo Bakari are the notable absentees as Junior Starlets head coach Mildred Cheche steps up preparations for Kenya’s second successive FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup appearance in Morocco.

While three players from Butere Girls remain in school and are yet to be released, Bakari is in the United States after securing a scholarship, leaving Cheche with four players still outside her residential camp.

“Most of our players have reported to camp. We are missing four, three of whom are from Butere Girls. They are yet to be released, but we have communicated with them,” Cheche said during a training session at the Kasarani Annex.

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The three Butere Girls players are part of Cheche’s 30-player provisional squad, with defender Boke, midfielder Akuku and forward Awuor all expected to fight for places in the final 25-member team.

Bakari, who featured in Kenya’s successful World Cup qualifying campaign, is also being kept in Cheche’s plans despite her move to the US. “We also have Bakari, who got a scholarship in the US. Hopefully, we will have her in the future, or even before the World Cup,” Cheche said.

With several weeks remaining before the tournament, Cheche has continued to reshape her squad after extensive scouting at school competitions, bringing in new players and making tactical adjustments. “We have made a few changes in how we are going to approach the matches and also added a few players to give us an edge. Hopefully, that works out for us,” she said.

The Junior Starlets qualified for their second successive World Cup after eliminating South Africa 5-1 on aggregate, having earlier overcome Namibia and Uganda. Kenya have been drawn in Group E alongside China, the United States and Samoa.

They open against China on October 19, meet the US on October 22 and conclude their group campaign against Samoa on October 25. Pauline Namisi said the team is using the residential camp to address weaknesses exposed during the qualifying campaign.

“We are working hard to rectify the mistakes we made during the qualifiers so that we don’t repeat them on the biggest stage in Morocco,” Namisi said.

The tournament runs from October 17 to November 7, giving Cheche time to complete her squad, assess the availability of the missing players and fine-tune her tactical approach before Kenya travels to Morocco.