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Eddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE international Arnold Chaka says Mochudi Centre Chiefs are ready to give Dynamos a good run for their money when the two sides meet in the preliminary round of the Champions League in February next year. DeMbare will open their account at home on February 9, 2014, hoping to improve on their performances in the last three seasons when they failed to reach the mini-league phase.
Chiefs have won the Botswana Be Mobile Championship back-to-back in the last two years and will also be looking to make an impact in Africa next year following a disappointing performance in the last edition.
Former Warriors defender Chaka, who is on the club’s books together with countryman Elvis Meleka, yesterday said being paired with Dynamos was a good draw.
Chiefs, just like the Harare giants, perished in the first round of the tournament this year after succumbing to a 7-0 aggregate defeat to seasoned campaigners TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“I think this is a good draw. We respect Dynamos because they are a big team but to our advantage we seem to know more about them than they do about us,” said Chaka.
“I also think that we may have an edge over them in terms of fitness when we play these matches since our league will be running full throttle while theirs will be yet to start.
“We will do our best because it’s not going to be easy. I believe we have to work harder.
“We learnt our lessons the last time when we played TP Mazembe and the biggest lesson was that you should always do things right every time. “If you play at home, you have to make use of the home advantage and try as well to avoid conceding. It is also important to score away and we need to get something when we come to Harare in the first leg because the away goals could be crucial in the end.”
The Botswana league is currently at halfway stage with Chiefs at number four on the standings, trailing leaders Botswana Defence Forces by six points following a shaky start.
The side has been struggling to stabilise following the departure of Zimbabwean coach Madinda Ndlovu who won back-to-back titles and has since been replaced by little-known former Serbian footballer Dragojlo Stanojlovic.
“Our coach is good but as is usually the case coaches have different approaches to things. We stumbled at the beginning but our recent performances show that we are coming back to our feet.
“Right now we are in a transition. It takes time to adapt to changes but I believe by the time we play Dynamos we should be okay,” said Chaka.
Dynamos have also welcomed the draw which could see them avoiding the North African adversaries in the path to the group stage.
“We have a serious problem with our strikeforce and it hasn’t been made any better by the situation in our country,” said coach Callisto Pasuwa. We are facing a big challenge with regards to strikers because we don’t have the quality that can play in the Champions League at the moment.
“I think this is because every season any player who shows potential is quickly plucked by the rich clubs in South Africa. We may resort to the juniors but you will realise that experience is needed at this level. So we are still looking around.”
DeMbare were also still hoping to reach an agreement with Tafadzwa Rusike, who is currently not attached to any club, while they could make a surprise move for Silas Songani who has expressed his interests to play for them.
Online Reporter