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Ocean Mushure

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS coach Lloyd Mutasa says he will not panic in the championship homestretch even after influential captain Ocean Mushure limped off the pitch during the preparations for tomorrow’s key league match against ZPC Kariba in the resort town. Mutasa believes the Glamour Boys have their destiny in their hands after opening a three-point gap at the top of the table before last week’s break for the Chibuku Super Cup quarter-finals.

The break, however, has been a mixed bag for the Harare giants who welcomed almost half a dozen players from injury before they suffered the Mushure setback at the last minute. The versatile skipper could not complete yesterday’s training session because of a knee problem and the technical team were left keeping their fingers crossed on his chances of making it for the match against ZPC Kariba.

“I think we will be in a better picture tomorrow (today). We will have to see him again. Probably he will be in a better shape,’’ said Mutasa.

“If he is okay then we are going to take him with us but if not we will have to switch to Plan B. There is no need to panic.’’ Mutasa is excited to once again go head-to-head with his mentor Sunday Chidzambwa as DeMbare look for their first league win over ZPC Kariba at Nyamhunga. This has been a tricky venue for the Glamour Boys since 2014 when the Kariba side were promoted.

But this is a match the Glamour Boys need to win to enhance their chances in the title race. Dynamos face a stiff challenge from Ngezi Platinum Stars, FC Platinum and Chicken Inn with seven matches remaining in the season. The title run-in looks exciting and this week all the title contenders will be on the road as Chicken Inn travel to Shabanie this afternoon while Ngezi Platinum have a date against Bulawayo City at Barbourfields tomorrow.

On paper, it appears, FC Platinum have the toughest assignment away to Highlanders on Sunday. “At times you learn the hard way and for us as an institution, we are aware that every team that we play, irrespective of their position or how they have been performing, raise their game against Dynamos and what we have been doing in these past two weeks was bracing ourselves for such encounters and, hopefully, we will be able to implement that on Saturday.

“I think I’m ready to face my mentor. “Sunday Chidzambwa is a great man who groomed me to be where I am today. He was once my coach at Dynamos. It’s always exciting facing your mentor but it’s not always easy to win against a good coach like him. We have to pull up our socks, we are Dynamos. I would like to believe these are the same guys that have been playing all season to be where we are. We have faith in them, they have been executing their duties well. The coach says his men are hungry for success. “They are even more hungry than before and the belief is there as well,’’ said Mutasa.

“I think this is going to be an advantage for us. What is key for us at the moment is to try and play our game, try to be consistent as much as we can and the only thing that we are sure of is if we maintain our consistence, then it means we will be in a better position at the end of the season because the destiny is still in our hands.’’ DeMbare were boosted by the return of Carlos Rusere, Emmanuel Mandiranga, Godfrey Mukambi, Obey Mwerahari and Denver Mukamba from injuries. Mutasa believe the break was beneficial to his side.

“It was beneficial because some of our players like Carlos Rusere and Obey Mwerahari have recovered. They are up and about and they are part of the mix and in line to be selected in the team that will do duty in Kariba. Then, on the other hand, we were not having a good run. We drew to Highlanders, we lost to CAPS United and then drew at Shabanie. Thereafter, we had a win against Harare City and we thought probably we wanted to continue but there was a break. “You wouldn’t want to have a break when you are having the momentum to go forward but such is football. We have been in this scenario before and we managed to come up with positive results. “I’m sure we will pick ourselves up and get a good result in Kariba.”