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Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe has commended his charges’ mentality ahead of their Castle Lager Premiership football clash against Ngezi Platinum Stars at Baobab this afternoon.
The Green Machine are bidding to find themselves again after picking two points from their last two encounters.
Before that, Makepekepe had completed a forgettable spell from which they lost seven games on the trot.
And it is the mentality they have been displaying over the past two weeks that has the veteran gaffer buzzing.
It would seem Makepekepe have an edge over their opponents this afternoon with the home side having gone for the last two games without picking a win.
But Chitembwe reckons that counts for nothing. “Preparations have gone so well and we are obviously working on our playing aspects. Football is a game of unpredictability but at the end of the day, the game belongs to the players.
“Mental fitness is what controls many aspects of performance so I think we have done well from the players’ view point. I think they have been so receptive to the things that we have been working towards at training and we are looking forward to the match against Ngezi Platinum Stars,” said Chitembwe.
“The whole idea is to keep trying and keep on improving the team.”
Chitembwe, though will have to shuffle the cards he already has at his disposal as new players, brought to strengthen the team, are not yet eligible to play.
Returning midfielder Blessing Sarupinda, Ali Sadiki and Tichaona Chipunza are all training with the squad but reports from within the team suggest the trio have not yet been registered.
They are undergoing some medical and physical tests as Makepekepe move to ensure they don’t sign injured players.
Chitembwe said his team will take full advantage of the transfer window to reinforce the squad.
“We want to take full advantage of the transfer window and there are obviously some new players coming in.”
He said he had respect for Benjani Mwaruwari’s team despite their slump in form in recent games.
“In football, past performances do not have a bearing on the present, I think what matters is a team’s state of readiness on match-day.
“If you are spot on in terms of the key areas of the game, including physical, mental, tactical and technical, you stand a very good chance of winning a match.
Defender Ben Musaka said the players are fired up for the encounter.
“What we basically needed, after that poor run, was to focus and take one game at a time and I think that is what we are doing.
“Since we started our first training session for the first half of the season, everyone has shown the hunger and the passion to do well. We are hoping that the focus will continue paying off,” said Musaka.
“We have been telling each other to ignore the destructions and just focus and get the team where it is supposed to be.
“We are focusing on ourselves but you know as a team we need points and that is what we have been training for.’’
Online Reporter