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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter—
HWANGE FC coach Nation Dube believes the desire to play in the end-of-season Mbada Diamonds Cup will motivate his charges to perform well in their remaining league matches.
Only the top four clubs will compete in the $250,000 tournament. The coalminers are fifth on the table with 38 points, one behind Highlanders. Chipangano who have had an inspired season are a threat to Highlanders and Caps United’s quest to play in the end-of-season tourney.
On Sunday they play host to relegation staring How Mine at the Colliery Stadium, a game that Dube believes will have an influence on their target for a top four finish.
“I think the final lap will be interesting and full of drama. I believe we’re going to see some positional changes at the top and bottom. For us, our target is to finish on a respectable position and the good thing is that we’re not fighting relegation like we were doing last season.
“To realise our pre-season target, I think we’ve been boosted by the change of format for this year’s Mbada Diamonds Cup which is for top four teams. The boys want to be part of the competition and they know that to be there we’ve to win our games including the one against How Mine,” said Dube.
After their clash with How Mine, Hwange’s next assignments are away to Black Rhinos, home to Highlanders, Triangle (away), FC Platinum (home) and wrap up their season with an away trip to Buffaloes.
All their remaining outings are tricky and it remains to be seen whether Hwange will be able to kick out either Caps United or the Mark Mathe-coached Highlanders from the top-four.
With Highlanders facing a tough away encounter against Caps United on Sunday in what will be Mathe’s first assignment since Kelvin Kaindu quit, Hwange might topple Bosso should they win against How Mine in the event that the Bulawayo giants lose or share spoils with the Green Machine.
Dube missed his team’s 0-0 draw with Bantu Rovers in Bulawayo as he was on national duty with the Young Warriors in Botswana.
“Every team now is either fighting for survival, to be in the top four or the title,” he said. “We’ll meet teams that are below us in our last six games and we can’t afford complacency. We need to concentrate and treat each game like a cup final if we’re to finish in a respectable position.”
Last season Hwange ended the season on position nine and with seasoned players like Gilbert Zulu, David Boriwondo, Rodwell Chinyengetere, Munyaradzi Mungadze, Aleck Marime, Farayi Vimisayi and Isaac Masame, they are capable of picking many points.
This weekend they have to be at their best because How Mine are not pushovers with their coach Luke Masomere still playing the same “I’m building a team for next season” tune.
Masomere also has seasoned players at his disposal in Gilbert Banda, gunman Kuda Musharu, Menard Mupera, George Magariro, Godfrey Nguwodzawo and Mandla Sibanda whose experience comes in handy in their survival battle.
Just like Hwange, the goldminers drew their last league game with Chicken Inn. They are precariously sitting on the thin relegation line on position 11 with 29 points, two points ahead of Black Rhinos and Triangle who they will be praying that they lose their games.
Black Rhinos are coming to Bulawayo for a date with Chicken Inn on Saturday, the same day Triangle, who are still basking in glory after their famous OneWallet Sup8r Cup win against Dynamos, travel to red-hot ZPC Kariba.
Chicken Inn’s gaffer Joey Antipas is wary of Black Rhinos.
“Teams fighting for survival tend to up their game and we can’t underestimate Black Rhinos because I know they’ll come at us. Our preparations are going on well and we hope we won’t have any of our players getting knocks before the weekend,” Antipas said.
Meanwhile, defending champions Dynamos are away to Buffaloes in Mutare.
Online Reporter