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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

YADAH Stars say former Zimbabwe international Khama Billiat is recovering quickly and will be assessed today to see if he can make it for the team’s upcoming home match against Chegutu Pirates. 

The star midfielder missed the weekend trip to Gweru where Yadah dismissed hosts TelOne 3-2 at Bata because of a calf injury. 

Billiat was grounded last week after coming out the worst from a clash with Simba Bhora midfielder Tichaona Chipunza in a 1-2 defeat at the Heart Stadium. The 33-year-old had been ruled out for two weeks, but Yadah coach Thomas Ruzive yesterday said they were looking forward to their star player returning from injury earlier than expected. “We are going to assess Khama tomorrow (today) to see the progress he has made. He might be back this weekend if all goes well.  We are very happy with the recovery,” said Ruzive.  

Billiat has been the crowd puller in the Yadah matches but his return to Zimbabwean football after more than a decade of excelling in South Africa was punctuated by a depressing run of five win-less matches for Yadah this season. 

Conspiracy theories have been in overdrive after Yadah’s first victory of the season at TelOne, with allegations that some players were unhappy with the special treatment given to the Mufakose-bred footballer. 

“There is nothing like that,” said Ruzive. 

“We have a team that is united, we are more like a family. But it just happened that we started by hitting a rough patch. 

“Of course, Billiat was not available for selection at the weekend, but I am sure we were still going to win that match if we were meant to win it. “If you have been following our games, you would agree with me that we are playing good football. It’s only that we haven’t been scoring enough to win matches,” said Ruzive. 

Midfielder Prosper Kafelapanjila, Marlon Mushonga, and Blessed Ndereki scored for Yadah, who were the only team not to win a match after the opening five rounds of play.

“It was a huge relief. The guys responded very well to the bad patch that we had experienced from the start of the season. 

Fixtures

Saturday: FC Platinum v Bikita Minerals (Mandava), ZPC Kariba v Arenel Movers (Nyamhunga), GreenFuel v Herentals (GreenFuel), Yadah v Chegutu Pirates (Heart Stadium)

Sunday: Manica Diamonds v CAPS Utd (Sakubva), Highlanders v Chicken Inn (Barbourfields), Hwange v Ngezi Platinum (Colliery), Dynamos v TelOne (Rufaro), Bulawayo Chiefs v Simba Bhora (Luveve)