The Gambia Under 17 team’s home match against Sierra Leone in the first leg of the qualifying round of the CAF Under 17 Youth Championship finals has been rescheduled to Sunday, August 31, at the Independence Stadium, reports reaching Observer Sports desk have revealed.

A terse statement issued by the Gambia Football Association last last night revealed that the tie, which was initially scheduled for Saturday, has been shifted to Sunday, though no reason(s) was forwarded for the reschedulement.

However, recent media reports have it that the unavailability of flight in Freetown on Thursday hindered the Sierra Leonean team’s timely arrival hence the need to push forward the tie to allow the visitors enough time to prepare for the match.

After Sunday’s Banjul first leg match, the Baby Scorpions will travel to Freetown in two weeks time for the return leg with the winner in the two-legged encounter proceeding to the final phase of the qualifiers.

Gambia’s Egyptian coach, Tarik Siagy, had earlier on invited 22 players to camp ahead of the weekend encounter. The list, which will be trimmed down to 19 this evening, includes three Under 20 players in Abdou Njie, Matarr Jobe and Cherno Njie.

Coach Tarik Siagy, who successfully guided the Baby Scorpions to triumph in the 2007 Abidjan four-nation tournament  is optimistic that his present squad has what it takes to win Saturday’s match.