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Descent Dube, Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS’ coach Madinda Ndlovu has said his side does not have any mandatory position to finish in at the end of the season, but is building a competitive team using home grown talent.
Ndlovu said the message has been clear from the beginning of the season that returning the club’s culture of promoting junior players to the first team and playing exciting football was the main objective this year.
“Any position we finish in is acceptable. Our mandate and focus right now is to see whether we are moving in the right direction,” said Ndlovu.
He said the club does not have set targets for this season other than ensuring that players are promoted from the team’s junior ranks to the senior team and bring flair on the pitch.
“We monitor the juniors with a critical eye and impart our coaching methods to them so that we achieve one of our main goals, which is to create a template that will be a foundation moving forward,” Ndlovu said.
He said their dealings demonstrate that their objective is based on building a team that will show some stability in years to come.
“There are areas we need to enforce and that’s where we evaluate players in different criteria such as age and quality, but the bottom line is that we won’t change the team completely.”
Highlanders’ chief executive officer Nhlanhla Dube said players from outside the Bosso set-up that fit the criteria of the club’s objectives will be brought on board between now and Tuesday next week.
“Players who are hungrier than the ones we have will be brought in, not as the core, but to beef up our strike force as long as they fit our criteria. We are willing to shape them and make them feel at home as long as they are in line with what we are building,” Dube said.
Highlanders will face their bitter rivals Dynamos at Barbourfields Stadium when the Castle Lager Premiership resumes on August 5 following this weekend’s temporary break giving way to the country’s general elections on Monday.
Bosso will be hoping to secure a third consecutive league win following two 1-0 wins over Herentals and Triangle at home and away in the past fortnight.
Ndlovu said the Dynamos match comes at a perfect time when confidence is high in the team after two successive wins.
“There is nothing that I would want to achieve more after elections than to celebrate a win against Dynamos. I would be greatly disappointed to lose the game more than I was against Bulawayo Chiefs, as this game has a lot at stake for our fans,” Ndlovu said. — @DecoDecent2
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