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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
DSTV Rangers have suffered a major blow ahead of their match against Bindura United in the World Navi Northern Region Division One soccer league tomorrow as 10 of their players will not be available for the encounter due to various reasons.
The Harare-based side will host log leaders Bindura at Old Hararians tomorrow but the unavailability of some key players has been a major cause for concern.
Team coach Ikabort Masocha confirmed the development yesterday and said it’s a huge challenge but they will find a way to pull through with those players that are available.

“This time around we have a lot of challenges, unavailability of players. We are missing around 10 players, two on suspension while some have gone for funerals and others are sick.

“The challenge for us is how are we going to pull through.
“We have 11 players ready to play although we are missing a big number. Out of the 10 we have Alex Zhuwawo and Boss Chingandari and they have 50-50 chances, they are carrying knocks but they might play.

“We will know by the end of day tomorrow when we finalise the team.
“The other eight are definitely not going to play but we give credit to the coaches who registered a large pool of players. If we had a small number we were going to be in a crisis,” said Masocha.

Masocha said some of the problems have been there for quite some time as some of the players have been carrying injuries and have not fully recovered.
“It’s not really like the problems are coming at the same time but when I arrived at this team all of the players were training but there were injuries.

“Some players were carrying knocks and they were aggravated when we had a mid-week training game.
“It’s a real challenge but we are helping these guys as the technical team to make sure they are psyched up for the game. We are talking to them to make sure they are ready to play,” said Masocha.

The DStv Rangers coach said while it’s sad that they will be missing some of their regular players, it was also an opportunity for those who have not been playing to prove themselves.

Masocha said this was a big game for them.
“This is a chance for those that were not playing regularly to stand up and show what they have. The fact that they were registered in Division One means that they can play.

“To be honest it’s a huge game for DStv in the sense that we are playing a team on top but I have been telling the boys that if they can probably come out of their shells and play for each other, anything can happen.