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Lloyd Chitembwe

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe says the five-point gap opened by FC Platinum shouldn’t destroy expectations among his troops because there will be twists and turns in the championship race.

The Green Machine suffered a 1-3 defeat at Barbourfields to Bulawayo City while Norman Mapeza and his men bounced back to winning ways, after three draws, when they beat Triangle 2-1 at Gibbo.

Chitembwe said there was still a lot to play for.

“At some point the gap was seven points and we closed it so we are not really worried because we still have ten games to play,” said Chitembwe.

“If we were left with two games we would be worried, but this is a non-event.

“It is good for them (FC Platinum) and I don’t think it is good for us to concentrate on that, but to worry about things we have control over.”

Chitembwe said his players didn’t have the right attitude going into the match on Sunday.

“I was not happy with one thing, we were away yes and it was not my first defeat, we lose matches and it is not really an issue, but the manner in which we lost the match disappointed me,” said Chitembwe.

“The attitude was just not right and it was bad,but they have promised they will make amends in the next game.

“The mindset was just not right and you could tell the body language was not right, but I just hope it will be fine in the next game.

“I made it clear to the boys that I was not happy with the performance.”

CAPS United got their consolation from midfielder Devon Chafa just before stoppage time.

Chitembwe’s men will host in-form Mutare City at the National Sports Stadium on Saturday.

The match will be played on a Saturday as it will be broadcast live on SuperSport with the crew then moving to Mhondoro the following day to cover Ngezi Platinum against Dynamos at Baobab.

“It is not about small defeat or heavy defeat, but what is important is how you bounce back. Losing is losing and at the end of the day what is more important is to try and come back,” said Chitembwe.

“We will be playing Mutare City and we know they have been doing well, but we are not where we are by accident so surely we will bounce back.”

Their rivals Dynamos were basking in glory after finally winning a match in half-a-dozen games.

Yesterday, coach Lloyd Mutasa said he was now praying for consistency.

“We have been in this situation before and then went on for a number of games collecting maximum points and we are the same people in that predicament,” said Mutasa.

“Now we would want to strike an element of consistency and keep our feet on the ground.

“We are still hammering to the players that what we did is now history and it is going to be easy at training as everyone would be fighting for places and that will increase the competition.”

On whether he would stick to the Sunday’s plan where midfielders Denver Mukamba and Wisdom Mutasa were pushed further upfront, the coach said every game has its game plan.

“Every game has its own game plan and now we are preparing for Ngezi, it is back to the drawing board and then we will see what is best for that game.

“But you want to build your team around the best performance and you can see that our backline we haven’t changed it more often because they have been consistent and we have been tampering with the attack and midfield,” said Mutasa.

Fixtures

Friday: Harare City v Bulawayo City (Rufaro Stadium, 3pm,SS).

Saturday: CAPS United v Mutare City Rovers (National Sports Stadium, 3pm, SS), Chapungu v Border Strikers (Ascot), FC Platinum v Chicken Inn (Mandava), Tsholotsho v ZPC Kariba (Luveve).

Sunday: Highlanders v How Mine (Barbourfields), Hwange v Triangle (Colliery), Ngezi Platinum Stars v Dynamos (Baobab, 3pm, SS).