Sean Connor unfazed by FC Platinum test

The Northern Irishman is also confident that his side will continue with their good form when they host FC Platinum in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.
After notching up two wins in succession, Connor yesterday said his side is now on the recovery path and will not be intimidated by the test that awaits them against last season’s runners-up.
The Green Machine, who had a poor start this year after going for five games without a win, will come under the spotlight following their victories over lowly Quelaton and Blue Rangers.
Connor believes his team is coming good and taunted FC Platinum as a smaller team compared to Makepekepe despite their finan­cial muscle.
“We are not intimidated. In terms of stature history shows that we are obviously the bigger football club,” said Connor.
“But if you mean that they (FC Platinum) probably came into the league as the Man­chester City of Zimbabwe, I don’t know their structures.
“All I can say is that they are a good side to be respected. But we are not afraid of them. We are CAPS United, we don’t fear them.
“They had a better start to the season but our performance levels, if you take away the second half against Chicken Inn and the game versus Harare City, we have played good football.
“We are aware of three or four really good players at FC Platinum. They are very strong on the left side.”
The CAPS United manager said he is hop­ing that his side will continue from where they left following the 1-0 win over Rangers last Saturday.
CAPS had also beaten Quelaton by the same margin the previous Monday.
Connor’s only worry is his strikeforce that has not been scoring goals.
The team has only managed three goals in open play from seven outings.
Such is the frustration that Connor has not made it a secret that he wants to beef up the department when the mid-season transfer window opens in July.
“If you say Edmore Sibanda was the lead­ing scorer in the team in the previous season, then why are you blaming me for my strike­force? We are working hard with these guys at training. Today we dedicated about 45 min­utes to finishing and combinations alone.
“We also do a lot of psychology focusing on the positives.
“We don’t look at the negatives because if we do that we end up destroying them,” he said. Midfielder Tendai Samanja is still trying to recover from injury while David Rediyoni, Conrad Whitby and Obert Moyo remain doubtful.
Their opponents FC Platinum are also enjoying a new lease after stitching three wins in succession.
FC Platinum had a bad outing last month when they dropped points home and away in three successive matches.