Injury grounds MWOS star player

Eddie Chikamhi

Zimpapers Sports Hub

CASTLE Lager Premier Soccer League log leaders MWOS are looking to go full throttle against tricky Yadah at The Heart Stadium tomorrow despite missing the services of star midfielder Nigel Matinha.

The 28-year-old, whose career has blossomed at the Punters to become one of the key members of the team, has been ruled out through injury.

However, coach Lloyd Mutasa is not losing sleep.

Mutasa is hoping that his Premiership surprise packages will complete a double over Yadah, who they beat 2-0 in the reverse fixture.

“We don’t have any suspensions but we have one player out through injury this week. Otherwise, the rest of the players in the squad are ready to be selected for the coming fixture,” said Mutasa.

The Norton side opened a three-point gap at the top last week with a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Bikita Minerals at their Ngoni backyard. But Mutasa is not taking anything for granted.

“It’s going to be a tough encounter, as usual. I have said it again and again that any game that you play in the elite league is never easy, more so when you are the log leaders. Everyone gets motivated by playing a side that is at the top of the league.

“But we always keep our players motivated by the fact that they are known and for them to make their names, they need to give a good shift every day,” said Mutasa.

MWOS sit at the apex of the log table with 40 points.

Although Mutasa has always maintained that they have no ambitions to win the league title in their debut season, their fine run so far puts them among the favourites at this stage of the campaign.

Mutasa has always maintained they are the novices and minnows in the league and because of that he has been urging his players to play to establish their own names, apart from defending the MWOS badge.

“We always give examples of players like Denver Mukamba, when they started playing in the elite league, they were novices, very young boys but they played very good football in their debut season.

“So, we are saying to most of these boys this is their debut season and you need to be known, so you have to play your heart out.

“You never know who is watching. You can get noticed by scouts from other leagues or the national team coaches and that could be the start of a good story,” he said.

MWOS were unbeaten in the opening 16 matches of the campaign and that has catapulted them to the top. Mutasa has always spoken to his boys against falling into the trap of complacency.

The Punters continued with their momentum thanks to Everson Feremba’s late strike against Bikita Minerals in their last game.

“The good part about our team is that we are coming from the lower ranks and the reason why we prepare for our games week in and week out without getting complacent is how can we be complacent when you are playing against seasoned teams like Dynamos, Highlanders, FC Platinum or Yadah? We just have to give a good shift because we are the novices. In order to go over the line, we just need to be there, day in and day out. We always tell the boys you are only as good as your last match.

“So, after the game we say this is history and we look forward to the next encounter and whoever puts in a good shift at the training session deserves to put on the jersey for our next game. That’s how they get motivated every week,” said Mutasa.

Yadah on the other hand are coming from a 1-2 defeat to Chicken Inn and will be desperate to bounce back in front of their home fans.

MWOS face competition at the top from Simba Bhora who host Herentals at Rufaro. Only three points separate MWOS and Simba Bhora but the Shamva side shot themselves in the foot after drawing their last two matches against FC Platinum and ZPC Kariba.

Fixtures:

Tomorrow: Herentals v Simba Bhora (Rufaro), TelOne v Dynamos (Bata), ZPC Kariba v Manica Diamonds (Nyamhunga), FC Platinum v Chicken Inn (Mandava), Yadah v MWOS (Heart Stadium), Bikita Minerals v Kwekwe United (Gibbo), Ngezi Platinum Stars v Scottland (Baobab).

Sunday: Highlanders v GreenFuel (Barbourfields), CAPS United v Triangle (Rufaro)