Bulls declare war on DeMbare

afternoon.
The Mighty Bulls, who have often dominated their Harare rivals in their meetings but fallen short on goals, are coming from a morale boosting 1-0 win over Gunners at Lafarge at the weekend.
George conceded Dynamos, who beat them in the NetOne Charity Shield last month, are always difficult customers but believes they have a good side to carry them to the finals of the Independence Trophy next week.
DeMbare and Motor Action have already met twice this year in the Bob’88 Super Cup third place playoff and the NetOne Charity Shield final.
Motor Action dominated the exchanges in the Charity Shield match but missed a lot of chances and eventually lost the match 2-1.
But they had beaten a weakened Dynamos 1-0 in the Bob’88 Super Cup play-off.
“Games against Dynamos are always difficult and, usually, it’s the better team on the day that wins,” said George.
“But we played well against Gunners at the weekend and we are looking forward to even better performances in the Independence Cup.
“We have a full squad ready for the match except for Godfrey Moyo and Rueben Machaya who are still injured.
“Edward Tembo is also out of this game as he is attending to his sick mother in Bulawayo.”
The duo’s absence has left the technical team to rely on new signings Dominic Mukandi and Charles Mutero who are still to settle well in the system.
The Mighty Bulls’ latest acquisition Norman Maroto should be the man to watch after the striker banged his first goal of the season in the club’s 1-0 victory over Gunners at the weekend.
The Dynamos son spent the better part of the pre-season training with the Glamour Boys in the hope of retracing his footsteps to the club but was disappointingly turned down at the last minute.
Dynamos coach Callisto Pasuwa said they were aware of the danger posed by Maroto’s presence in the Bulls’ set up.
“We have played so many times with Motor Action in recent years and most of the times they had the upper hand but we would score.
“So we are saying this time we wouldn’t want to give them much room to play the ball.
“We are also keeping in mind that they have one player who has been training with us during the pre-season and might have a point to prove.”
In-form striker Takesure Chinyama has been ruled out of the clash.
Chinyama is one of the half dozen changes that coach Callisto Pasuwa could be forced to make.
“We have rested Takesure Chinyama and he didn’t train today (yesterday) and so did Devon Chafa who was injured on Sunday.
“Actually Devon’s injury is not as bad as we had feared and the doctors said it’s okay for him to do light training.
“We have a tight schedule ahead of us and we are talking of at least five games in the next two weeks before we travel to Tunisia.
“So we have to rotate the players to avoid burnout.
“I think we need to be careful in selecting the team in all these games and also to avoid injuries,” said Pasuwa.
DeMbare are likely to make at least half a dozen changes to their starting line up with Chinyama, midfielder Chafa, who limped off in Sunday’s Champions League match against Liga Muculmana, Murape Murape, Denver Mukamba, Ocean Mushure and Milton Makopa set to be rested.
Mushure, who played a good game in the leftback position, is still battling to secure clearance from his former club Monomotapa to play in the domestic competitions.
Fullback David Kutyauripo is still out with an ankle injury.
The technical team also expressed their disappointment on the unavailability of goalkeeper George Chigova and the Zambians Arthur Kaseloki and Derrick Kabwe.
Chigova, like Mushure, has not been able to secure a clearance while Kaseloki and Kabwe haven’t kicked the ball in any of Dynamos’ official games because their work permits are still being processed.
“We have a tight schedule and we wanted to use all the players that we have registered with PSL but it’s unfortunate their papers are still being processed.”
Fixtures
Independence Cup
Today
Dynamos v Motor Action (Rufaro)
Tomorrow
FC Platinum v Hwange (Mandava)
Castle Lager Premiership
Saturday
Dynamos v Monomotapa (NSS), Black Mambas v Shabanie Mine (Morris Depot), Chicken Inn v Quelaton (Luveve), Harare City v Gunners (Gwanzura)
Sunday
Highlanders v Hardbody (Barbourfields), Hwange v FC Platinum (Colliery), Motor Action v CAPS United (Gwanzura), Shabanie Mine v Blue Rangers (Maglas)