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Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions Chicken Inn will be bolstered by the availability of their creative midfielder Tafadzwa Kutinyu when they take on Bulawayo giants Highlanders in an epic derby tie set for Barbourfields Stadium this afternoon.
Kutinyu, a former Warriors and Bantu Rovers player who also had playing stints in Tanzania and Guinea, bounces back into the Gamecocks fold after serving a two games suspension owing to a red card he picked up when his team played a goalless draw against Premier Soccer League newbies Sheasham in Match Day One that was played at Mandava Stadium.
Kutinyu, who is endowed with good ball control, visionary play and ability to score crucial goals, missed his team’s fixtures against Simba Bhora and Cranborne Bullets.
“He is back, he has been training with the rest of the squad which is a big relief for us. We are obviously happy that he is back and available for selection,” said Chicken Inn head coach Prince Matore at the club’s weekly press conference yesterday.
Matore said they will not need to worry much about thousands of Bosso fans who are likely to come in their numbers to back the on song black and white army that is yet to taste defeat and are tied on seven points with fellow pacesetters Dynamos and CAPS United.
“What will be important for us will be to focus on playing the ball and not to listen to Highlanders fans. Listening to their fans will make us not play our usual game. I have watched Highlanders play, they enjoy so much support from their fans and we will need to raise our tempo to match them,” said Matore adding that they will be without the services of injured duo Munashe Pini and Calum English Brown.
The club’s evergreen captain Xolani “Lolo” Ndlovu said they were ready for a battle against Baltemar Brito’s charges. He however, said since its a derby tie, members of their technical team will have little to say during the course of the match.
“Everyone is ready and we have been pushing well. The momentum is good, we are not under any pressure. Our coaches will have little to say during the match where we will need to motivate each other as players. It’s a big match but we are ready to fight for the results,” said the soft spoken left footed player.
This will be the 21st Premier League derby tie between the two sides.
Following their 2-1 home triumph over defending champions FC Platinum last Sunday, Bosso will certainly march into the cauldron of Emagumeni with their tails up.
On the other hand, Game,cocks are coming from an away 0-0 draw against army side Cranborne Bullets, a result that helped the former to whittle down the gap on Dynamos, FC Platinum, Bosso and Hwange.
While aura in the City of Kings and Queens is blowing in Bosso’s favour, the good news for Matore’s mentored Gamecocks is that they have been the better side in this head-to-head in recent times, with Chicken Inn posting eight wins over Bosso in their last 20 league games played between the two sides.
In the period under review, Bosso have managed to get the better of the Simbisa Brands-sponsored club three times and nine games have ended in stalemates.
Bosso managed to post their biggest victory over Chicken Inn on October 1, 2017 when they thumped them 4-0. The largest margin for the Gamecocks was a 3-0 win on May 11, 2018. – @FungaiMuderere.
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