Mkhokheli Dube attends FC Platinum trials

undoubtedly the biggest name on the FC Platinum trials list.
He proved to have lost none of his charisma which made him a household name for Bosso. The Zvishavane-based side played and beat another mining team Hwange 1-0 on Saturday.
Though some sources within the club had suggested Dube was only training to keep himself fit while on holiday, coach Rahman Gumbo showed his keenness on the striker.
“Obviously he could be interested in joining us but I will talk to him on his position but I must emphasise our assessment process is still in progress and we have not come up with a final list.
“We expect to wind up the exercise in the next week and possibly we will unveil the list to you but we want the strongest possible squad,” said Gumbo.
There are indications that a top Botswana based striker is within range while Welcome Ndiweni, the scorer of the solitary goal in the 1-0 win over Hwange, continued to impress.
On the same night, club president Nathan Shoko reaffirmed that Zvishavane would host CAF matches as work on the stadium was ongoing.
“Construction at the stadium is in progress though it had to be delayed as we had to balance between the use and construction work and had to consider safety.
“We will continue until we are happy but the stadium is ready for matches but we do not have the date when CAF will come down for inspection.”
Shoko also said the club was happy with finishing second in their maiden Premier Soccer League season.
“We set our target which is the CAF Champions League and finishing second was the minimum and a title win would have been icing on the cake.
“It may have been painful but that pain is what should inspire us to success. Having finished second, the only way to do better is to go for the top,” said Shoko.
He said the club would also refocus on developing talent through the various junior policies.
“We intend to set development bases throughout the country as you know by now our U-18 team won promotion in the Central Soccer League Division One.
“Another development structure is our Under-16 squad which is based at Guinea Fowl High School.
“I wish to state this clearly we did not buy players but got free agents. We never paid anything to Highlanders for Zephaniah Ngodzo, Joel Ngodzo, Brighton Dube and Menard Mupera. However we now want to produce our own soccer talent through the development structures,” said Shoko.
Gumbo described the preliminary round CAF Champions League draw as fair for debutants.
Intimidating is the first round potential first round opponent El Merreikh of Sudan should the Zvishavane side sail past the preliminary round.
Speaking on Saturday night on the sidelines of the club’s annual awards ceremony, Gumbo said Green Mambas of Swaziland were fair opponents.
“To me it is a fair draw but we will now need to get as much information about them as possible as part of the preparations. We will definitely leave no stone unturned, already we have been conducting trials where over 40 players are being assessed.
“As a technical department we are looking at about 12 players and obviously it will mean some players from the current squad will be out,” said Gumbo.
The first leg is set for Trade Fair Stadium in Manzini on the weekend of 17-19 February with the return scheduled for Mandava Stadium on 2-4 March.