Kumasi Asante Kotoko returned to training on Thursday morning after their heavy 4-1 alienation against Ebusua Dwarfs on Wednesday in their Match-Day 20 Ghana Premier League (GPL) encounter played in Cape Coast.

They have started their preparations for Sunday’s big clash with arch rivals Accra Hearts of Oak at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi knowing they cannot afford to lose guard ahead of this clash.

The entire playing body reported to work at their Adako Jachie training ground under acting coach Michael Osei who has come in for some heavy criticism following a run of poor results lately.

The Porcupines have not won in the GPL in their last three games and the defeat to Dwarfs at the Robert Mensah Stadium in Cape Coast was their biggest in the league in recent seasons.

They have dropped to fourth on the table from their previous second position, and trail the leaders Hearts of Oak incidentally the side they face on Sunday by five points.

Pressure is on Coach Osei and his technical staff to produce a result in this game, and they know they have to quickly put this latest setback behind them and look up to the Hearts of Oak game on Sunday.

The former Ghana international will continue to prepare his charges for the rest of the week and hope that on match-day, they will rise up to the task in a game they know they cannot afford to drop points if their hopes of winning the ultimate at the end of the season is to be sustained.