dyton mupawaenda
Eddie Chikamhi-Zimpapers Sports Hub
THEY might be minnows in the Premiership, but Bikita Minerals do not count themselves push-overs ahead of their battle against beleaguered giants CAPS United at Rufaro tomorrow.
After all, it is a bottom four skirmish, as both teams have experienced an indifferent start to the season.
But the pressure to win tomorrow is more on CAPS United, the bigger team of the two, who are also fighting to win back trust of disillusioned supporters.
The Harare giants have indicated in the run up to this game that they were aiming to resuscitate their campaign beginning with the a win against Bikita Minerals. However, the Bikita side has indicated they are not going to be cannon fodder.
The new Bikita Minerals coach Wilson Mutekede, is no stranger to CAPS United, having been part of the Green Machine technical team between 2009 and 2010 as team manager under current coach Lloyd Chitembwe.
In fact, the two are very good friends outside of the football pitch. But tomorrow they will be more of rivals, keen to outdo one another, to appease their employers. Chitembwe and Mutekede have more or less the same kind of pressure after starting the campaign on a low.
Mutekede told Zimpapers Sports Hub he was eager to turn the corner after collecting his first win, in six games, in the 2-1 victory over Triangle last week.
With a team composed largely of young and inexperienced players, he believes the win was a signal of the positive strides they have made in the past few weeks.
“From our first game against Chicken Inn (0-0), the boys showed what they can do. Of course, there have been a lot of errors mostly to do with inexperience, and we have been working hard to address that.
“To be honest, it’s been a challenge to get the boys settle in the league and believe in themselves. You cannot short-circuit the process. But, obviously, the win against Triangle was a big boost. It shows progress and I am happy the boys are getting to grips with the demands of PSL football.
“Now we face CAPS United, a good side with great quality and a very knowledgeable coach. We have to do our best to get a result.
“CAPS United are a more established side compared to Triangle. So, this is not going to be an easy game, but these are the kind of games that can help us gauge our level of progress,” said Mutekede.
With five points from five outings, Bikita Minerals are 15th on the log standings while Makepekepe are 17th. Only one point separates the two sides.
Makepekepe’s slow start has not gone done well with the club’s supporters who staged a demonstration the last time they played at home and succumbed to a 1-2 defeat to Ngezi Platinum Stars.
Having suffered three defeats on the trot, and sitting second from the bottom of the table, CAPS United are walking a tight rope. Twice in the last two weeks, club president Farai Jere has had to visit the team at their training ground to try and psyche them up so as to deflect the pressure from the fans.
Assistant coach Tonderai Marume told journalists the pressure was real.
“We are in a bad situation, we can understand that and we can feel it, but such situations are there so that they can be solved. We have to make sure we find a solution to the situation that we are in,” he said.
“The solution is to win games and this game we are going to play on Sunday is one of those games that can help us find a solution to our situation.”
Despite the poor start, CAPS United somehow believe they can still bounce back and compete for the league title. Club president Jere was emphatic about this possibility and his sentiments were echoed by Marume.
“If you look at the situation in our league, I might sound like I’m not making sense, but everyone still has a chance to compete in the title race and we are also part of it,” said Marume.
“If you look at it, we are not very far away.
“If you are maybe 10, seven, six or so points away from the team at the top at this stage, you can still change the situation. By changing the situation, you get closer to the teams at the top. So, we’ve been training well.
“The boys are ready. We only have two players who are out injured. We have Brian Kadamanja and Bruce Kangwa out injured.
“But we have a big pool of players and they can easily fill in the gaps that have been left by the injured players,” said Marume.
Fixtures:
Today: GreenFuel v ZPC Kariba (GreenFuel)
Sunday: Manica Diamonds v TelOne (Sakubva), Triangle v Yadah (Gibbo), CAPS Utd v Bikita Minerals (Rufaro)
Monday: Chicken Inn v Simba Bhora (Luveve), MWOS v Dynamos (Ngoni), Kwekwe Utd v Herentals (Bata), Scottland v FC Platinum (Rufaro), Ngezi Platinum Stars v Highlanders (Baobab).
Online Reporter