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Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
FC PLATINUM coach Norman Mapeza believes that there is no need to be worried by his team’s poor run of form which has seen them go four matches without tasting victory in the Castle Lager Premiership.
The former Zimbabwe international sounded bullish ahead of the platinum derby, against Ngezi Platinum Stars at Baobab tomorrow, as the four-time Zimbabwe champions look to turn around their fortunes.
Mapeza said the lean phase will soon come to pass and the team will bounce back to winning ways.
FC Platinum have played three draws and a defeat in their last four games. It has been over a month without collecting maximum points. Their last win was against Bulawayo Chiefs on April 7.
But Mapeza and his charges are definitely not dropping their heads in self-pity.
“Morale is always high despite all the challenges we have been facing,” he told journalists at yesterday’s pre-match press conference.
“It’s a phase in football. If you talk to anybody who is involved in football, they will tell you that definitely, there are phases like this in a game of football.
“So, I guess we are in that phase at the moment. But look, we are not far away from the teams which are on top of us. I think it’s just a three-point difference. So we are okay.
“People can start talking about FC Platinum blah blah but if you look at our points tally, like I said we are not far away from the teams on top of us.
“So we just need to get out of this phase. It’s always difficult but we have to find ways to get out of this phase. I just hope it will get to pass,” said Mapeza.
The Zvishavane side meet a Ngezi Platinum Stars side that is high on confidence, having collected 10 points in the last four matches, and briefly taking control of the race last week.
Ironically, the Mhondoro side regained their mojo at the same time that FC Platinum started experiencing their woes. They have been scoring goals for fun too. They pumped in five past ZPC Kariba and three against Green Fuel.
Mapeza reckons that Ngezi Platinum mentor Takesure Chiragwi has done well with the Mhondoro side.
“We know the challenge we are going to face when we go to Ngezi on Sunday. Ngezi have been doing well of late.
“I think my young man Takesure Chiragwi has done really well. You can tell from their results, their results away from home have been fantastic. We are going to face a very quality side organised side I think they are one of the most dangerous teams in the league but we have done our homework and we still have tomorrow (today) to do our final preparations and then see what happens on Sunday when we get to Ngezi,” he said.
Mapeza however will miss some of his players that are not feeling well with a suspected flu bug that has invaded their camp.
“We have a few guys who are not feeling well, to be honest. I am not going to mention their names.
“I think this flu bug has hit us very hard. There are some other guys who are just feeling tired, not tired of training whatsoever. You know, your body can react to different situations.
“Sometimes you just get up in the morning you are just feeling weak. That is the situation with some of the guys but we still have tomorrow (today) to do our final assessment.
“If they are okay we might take them to Ngezi. But if they are not, we cannot sacrifice someone’s health but take precautionary measures, we can’t risk them,” said Mapeza.
Only two points separate the teams on the log standings. The league race is tightly contested at this stage of the campaign.
Ngezi Platinum Stars are third with 14 points to their name. They are one point adrift of log leaders Highlanders and two above defending champions FC Platinum, who they face at Baobab tomorrow.
Fixtures:
Today: Herentals v Dynamos (National Sports Stadium), Bulawayo Chiefs v Sheasham (Luveve), Manica Diamonds v Chicken Inn (Gibbo).
Tomorrow: CAPS United v Hwange (National Sports Stadium), Triangle v Yadah (Gibbo), Highlanders v Simba Bhora (Barbourfields), Ngezi Platinum v FC Platinum (Baobab)
Monday: ZPC Kariba v Black Rhinos (National Sports Stadium).
Online Reporter