DeMbare duo grounded

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

DYNAMOS fullback Brendon Mpofu is set to become the second defender to miss the Glamour Boys’ trip to Gweru where they are looking to maintain a seven-match unbeaten run when they face Castle Lager Premiership football minnows Whawha at Ascot tomorrow.

Mpofu joins Tino Muringai on the sidelines, who last featured for DeMbare when they travelled to Ngezi Platinum Stars earlier in the month.

The team’s coach, Tonderai Ndiraya, yesterday said it was a blow to lose both leftbacks at this stage of the season when his team was beginning to gel.

Dynamos’ defence has been their mainstay this season and Ndiraya is not keen on continuously tinkering with the squad.

“Unfortunately we lost Brendon Mpofu through a groin injury. So he won’t be taking part in the upcoming game and then, of course, Tino Muringai, another left-footed player, who has also been a pillar of our defence in the games that we have played.

“He is also out with a knee injury but everyone else is back in training. It’s only those two who have injuries which have kept them out of this match,” said Ndiraya. “This is a huge blow for the two young players. These are young players who have really been consistent for the team. As a coach you don’t want to be changing the team that has been giving you results.

“So it is a big blow for us but we have got a good pool of players and we hope those that are going to replace them will also equally give the team the much needed performances and of course the much needed results.

“These are two upcoming young players, future national team players so to speak and to lose them at such a stage is quite disappointing but we hope they will quickly recover and come back to help the team to achieve its targets,” said Ndiraya. Dynamos last suffered defeat in the league marathon two months ago when they went down 0-1 to Chicken Inn at the National Sports Stadium.

Ndiraya said they are not leaving anything to chance against a Whawha side that shocked early season pace-setters Chicken Inn 3-0 recently.

Their top goal scorer Emmanuel Paga came good in the last game when he scored the solitary goal that ensured a hard-fought win against battling Manica Diamonds, to return to the apex of the log standings after they had been dislodged overnight by Chicken Inn.

For Ndiraya, the new challenge is to try and keep his players focused as he does not want complacency to creep into his side. They have a proud run of six wins and a draw. “It’s been very hard; I want to be honest. When you post good results, complacency tends to creep into the mentality of most of the players and we have had to constantly remind them about the need for us to focus on each and every game that we play.

“It’s been difficult but the response from the players has been very fantastic and we hope that we get into Saturday’s game with the right frame of mind.

“I think what also keeps motivating the players is the team they’re playing for. Most of them are new but I think in the past 12 weeks that we have been together, they have come to appreciate the pressure that comes with playing for arguably the biggest team in the country.  So that has also helped our cause in terms of motivation.

“Hopefully we can keep them focused. What is important in sport is the motivation that comes from within, the intrinsic motivation.

“So our players have been very good in that area and we hope they can keep themselves hungry, of course with the motivation from us, their coaches, then from everyone within the system and the fans. We can keep getting the results that we have been getting,” said Ndiraya.

Dynamos currently sit on top of the log standings with 26 points from 12 games while their opponents are second from the bottom with a meagre eight points.

Whawha have been the whipping boys in the league but on a good day they have proved to be a handful. They have two wins this year against Yadah and Chicken Inn.