Vusumuzi Dube
Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
AHEAD of their potentially explosive tie against cross town rivals Chicken Inn set for Barbourfields Stadium this afternoon, Highlanders FC technical manager Baltemar Brito has sent a chilling warning to his charges.
He has urged his players to be alert from the first whistle. Brito reckoned that they last weekend suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of FC Platinum owing to a lapse in concentration in the opening minutes of the game. He pointed out at complacency as their biggest undoing on the day but hopes his players will have moved on to regain the confidence they had in the record 19-match unbeaten run.
“We expect a tough game against Chicken Inn, a tough derby encounter. However, they should be ready for us. It is a match that we should avoid the ‘Mandava sleep’ where we conceded early. If we are down in terms of motivation while at the top, how will we stop the other teams that have big investments to be champions? Some of them are 10 points behind us. Then they must be more than down. Defeats in football are normal. It is in the past, now our levels of motivation and confidence are high, and we want to prove that we are a good team and give victory to our supporters because what they are doing is unbelievable,” said Brito.
On the other hand Chicken Inn head coach Prince Matore said they were going to dig deeper into their bags of tricks.
“We should avoid to concede early. However, we will hunt for an early goal. It’s going to be a tough match,” said Matore.
With Bosso getting to the weekend as a bruised lot, the Gamecocks will go into the match coming from a 0-0 draw. In recent times, this will be the 22nd meeting between the two antagonists who boast of vast talent.
With the Bosso technical bench revealing that their creative midfielder Devine Mhindirira was due to pass a late fitness test, there will be Ariel “Mangoye” Sibanda, Andrew Mbeba, Peter Muduhwa, Mbongeni Ndlovu, Lynoth “Sonjy” Chikuwa and Stanley Ngala to bank on.
Ably captained by Xolani “Lolo” Ndlovu, the Gamecocks will also have their goalkeeper Donovan Bernard, Shepherd Mhlanga, Malvin Hwata, Dominic Jaricha, Richard Hachiro, Clive Augusto and George Majika to bank on amid revelations that Brian Muza is likely to be thrown into the fray. Muza has been nursing an injury.
Today: Highlanders FC v Chicken Inn (Barbourfields Stadium), Triangle v ZPC Kariba (Gibbo), Caps United v Black Rhinos (Bata).
WEEK 21 RESULTS
Yesterday: Bulawayo Chiefs 1-1 FC Platinum
Cranborne Bullets 0-1 Dynamos, Herentals 2-1 Ngezi Platinum, Manica Diamondsb 2-0 Green Fuel, Sheasham 1-0 Hwange, Simba Bhora 1-1 Yadah.
Table
P W D L F A Pts GD
Highlanders 20 11 8 1 16 6 41 10
Manica 21 11 6 4 28 12 39 16
Ngezi 21 11 6 4 27 15 39 12
Dynamos 21 9 9 3 25 8 36 17
Chicken Inn 20 8 8 4 19 14 32 5
Herentals 21 8 8 5 24 20 32 4
Fc Platinum 21 8 7 6 21 18 31 3
Green Fuel 21 7 5 9 17 20 26 -3
Caps United 20 6 7 7 18 16 25 2
Byo Chiefs 21 6 7 8 24 24 25 0
Hwange 21 6 6 9 17 20 24 -3
Zpc Kariba 20 6 6 8 13 23 24 -10
Sheasham 21 4 11 6 10 20 23 -10
Simba Bhora 21 4 10 7 15 17 22 -2
Yadah 21 6 3 12 16 29 21 -13
Triangle 20 3 11 6 13 22 20 -9
Cranborne 21 4 6 11 11 19 18 -8
Black Rhinos 20 3 6 11 11 22 15 -11
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