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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS might have their defence problems solved ahead of the Harare Derby against traditional foes CAPS United at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday following the return of left-back Brendon Mpofu from a month long lay-off.
The Harare giants have been playing with makeshift left-backs for the last month as both men signed for that position — Mpofu and Tinotenda Muringai — have been down with knocks.
Coach Tonderayi Ndiraya has been forced to deploy midfield hard man Shadreck Nyahwa on the left side of his defence in the last few games. He also had some experimental outings with skipper Partson Jaure covering the left side of defence in one of the games.
Coincidentally the team, which had kept eight clean sheets and conceded just four goals in their opening 12 games, has been breached consecutively in three of the four matches that Muringai and Mpofu did not feature in the last month.
Mpofu was down with a groin injury he suffered towards the end of April which ruled him out of the games against Whawha, Bulawayo City, Highlanders and Herentals.
Muringai picked a knee injury while preparing for the Presidential Independence Trophy final clash against Highlanders in April and went on to miss the last five league games.
Ndiraya was excited about the prospects of welcoming Mpofu back into the fold but was not sure about Muringai, who broke down again yesterday during practice.
“Brendon has been out but is now back training with the whole team. He has been doing good the whole week so we wait to see how he is going to finish the preparations.
“And then, of course, we had Muringai who was back for the better part of the week but today (yesterday) he is out again. We are yet to get a report from the medical team on what is really transpiring” said Ndiraya.
Dynamos’ defence has been their mainstay this season. It is going to be interesting how they are going to shape up against a CAPS United side that, on a good day, can be a nightmare to any defence.
Despite their current woes, Makepekepe have some of the best attacking players like William Manondo, who is among the league’s top goal-scorers, veteran Rodwell Chinyengetere, exciting youngster Diego Makurumidze and slippery wingers Phineas Bamusi and Ian Nyoni.
The derby, which has always been one of the major highlights on the calendar, always provides the platform for the giants to fight for the bragging rights in the capital more than anything else.
This has been the norm since the late 1970s when Makepekepe stormed into top-flight football.
The stage has often been explosive although the games have of late played under different conditions.
The two Harare giants will need to give their fans something to talk about for the next 20 days when the league action will be on break.
The Premier Soccer League announced domestic football will take a break until June 25 as they observed the annual mid-season break.
Dynamos and CAPS United come into this fixture on the back of contrasting fortunes. While CAPS United have been wallowing in the bottom half of the table following a depressing run of five straight defeats in their previous games, DeMbare are currently second in the PSL race.
Ndiraya said he would want his charges to finish the first half on top. But the Glamour Boys would also need a big reaction from the players as they have not won in three previous outings.
“We are travelling our own journey. Of course, that journey has got so much competition. We want to go back to winning ways.
“It’s been two games now without a win. Not just without a win; it’s been two games without scoring a goal and we have really been working on those areas especially the forwards to try and find the right combinations which can start to give us goals again.
“We have also been working on the midfield to also try and get goals from that department and hopefully on Sunday we get to score goals for us to win the match.
“If you want to win a match you have got to score goals and if you don’t score, then it becomes difficult. So we have been putting in more hours in those areas and hopefully it pays off on Sunday.
“But just getting back to winning ways will really put our campaign back on track. That’s what we have been working on and most importantly, I think psychologically we have to be up for the task,” said Ndiraya.
Unfortunately for Ndiraya, his talisman Bill Antonio is still out on a red card. Forward Tinashe Makanda, who limped back to the changing rooms after the last game against Herentals, is out, along with long-term casualty Luke Musikiri, through an ankle injury.
“It’s quite a number of them but I think we still have enough depth in our squad to fill those gaps. We are heading towards the conclusion of our preparations and hopefully we will be well prepared for our match,” said Ndiraya.
Online Reporter