Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi-Zimpapers Sports Hub
GIANTS Dynamos and CAPS United know they cannot afford to sit on their laurels as the fight for survival in the Castle Lager Premiership gathers momentum.
Makepekepe have a tough date with championship chasing FC Platinum at Mandava this afternoon while DeMbare host fellow relegation fighters GreenFuel at Rufaro tomorrow.
Pressure has been mounting at CAPS United, who have been moving back and forth and had their woes compounded by identical 1-2 defeats to Bikita Minerals and Yadah in their last two outings.
Coach Ian Bakala is aware of the challenge ahead of him as sections of disillusioned CAPS United supporters are starting to question his capabilities to steer the giants clear of relegation after taking over from Lloyd Chitembwe in May.
“This game we are playing, it’s a crucial game for us,” he said ahead of the Mandava trip.
“We haven’t done well for the past three games, and in the obvious case, the pressure is there. Mentally, we just have to be strong as players, and we are mentoring them very well.”
The Zambian coach is worried more by their defence which had become porous of late. He feels the injuries to some of their key men had contributed to the recent misfortunes.
“We still have a lot of injuries, but the guys who are here, I think they are going to deliver this game. It’s a crucial game for us, it’s going to be very difficult for us, but we have to fight and get a point or three points,” said Bakala. CAPS United are sitting 12th on the log standings, on 28 points. They are not yet safe from the relegation spectre as they are only one point above the cut-off point.
Their opponents FC Platinum have also not been doing well in recent assignments but their coach Norman Mapeza was blunt on their intentions to tap into home advantage to reignite their championship fire.
Although placed sixth on the log standings on 40 points, only 10 points separate them from the top team, Simba Bhora.
“Like I always say, it’s all about taking advantage of us playing at home, although we have been having some challenges of late, especially playing here.
“But look, it’s a game of football. We are going to the last few kilometres of the marathon and in terms of destiny, I think it’s still in our hands. We have to fight for it because it’s not going to be easy,” said Mapeza.
FC Platinum are looking to recover from their worst defeat (5-2) to Scottland which was followed by a 0-2 thumping at Triangle last week.
“We feel last week we didn’t do well. We try to rectify those problems. At the end of the day, it’s all about the players. They are the ones who go to the pitch. We have trained. Everybody knows exactly what they need to do,” said Mapeza.
Giants Dynamos will continue to dig their way out of the hole when they host GreenFuel at Rufaro tomorrow. New coach Kelvin Kaindu is hopeful after leading the giants to two rare wins in succession following his appointment recently.
DeMbare are still stuck second from the bottom with 22 points, five behind GreenFuel who are also in the drop zone.
“Every game is very important for us, looking at the position where we are. We are playing at home.
“I think we have played most of the games away from home. We haven’t been at home for quite some time. I think we have shown a lot of improvement.
“We have picked up points away from home and we just hope that we keep up the momentum. Slowly we are building confidence but the challenge is in the teams in the last game that are at the bottom of the log also man-aged to pick up victories. We need to be consistent,” said Kaindu.
DeMbare have all their players available except for injured Ghanaian Frank Agyemang who was still being assessed by the medical team.
“I think he should be out for quite some time, maybe a fortnight or so. He is about to go for an X-ray just to check on how much damage on the injury,” said Kaindu.
