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Don Makanyanga Sports Reporter
DESPITE sitting third on the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League log standings, Manica Diamonds coach Jairos Tapera contends that his charges are not under pressure to win the league title.
This is despite the fact that the Gem Boys are trailing log leaders, Ngezi Platinum Stars by just three points.
But Tapera refuses to have his charges drawn into the title race matrix which involves Harare giants Dynamos, Highlanders, FC Platinum and log leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars.
“Please take us away from this notion that we want to win the championship.
“As club we never sat down and discussed us winning the championship but what we have discussed as a team is winning as many games as possible and that is exactly what we are looking at.
“As long as we are doing what we are doing then we are happy as a club,” said Tapera.
Having finished 10th last season with 45 points, the Mutare based outfit is just six points to surpassing last season’s point tally with 12 matches remaining before the season ends. Having taken over as head coach of Manica Diamonds at the start of the season, Tapera believes his charges have done well this season as they look to finish the season amongst the best four teams hence, they are not worried about winning the league title.
“We are not worried whether the top teams win their matches or whether we are on number two or three.
“Probably what we are worried about is when we start dropping down from fourth position then we can say something is wrong with our target,” said Tapera.
Tapera believes his charges have done extremely well during this campaign considering the fact that they have been forced to travel for both their home and away matches.
Manica Diamonds are using Gibbo Stadium in Chiredzi as their home ground following the closure of Sakubva stadium for renovations at the start of the year.
“We travel not less than 700Km whether we are at home or away and for the boys to perform the way they have done they deserve a pat on the back for standing tall for the club.
“You can imagine the distance that we travel every week to fulfil our matches.
“I am very proud of my boys, very proud of them,” said the Manica Diamonds coach.
After suffering their fifth loss of the season, Manica Diamonds will look to bounce back to winning ways when they host ZPC Kariba on Saturday.
“Like I said from the beginning of the season, we want to win as many games as possible, and our last game was included.
“We want to get maximum points in all the games we play and hopefully we will be able to get them this weekend,” said Tapera.
Online Reporter