Zimpapers Logo

Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
BLACK RHINOS coach Herbert Maruwa wants his charges to be compact at the back when they face Harare City in a rescheduled Premiership tie at the National Sports Stadium this afternoon.

Both clubs are gunning for a top eight finish after they all but secured their top-flight status next season.

Harare City are a point above the army side on 41, and they know a loss will not be ideal for their top-eight target.

But, the soldiers, who have scored 11 goals in their last three matches could make life difficult for the municipal side who have the most number of draws in the league.

Maruwa is not much worried about goal-scoring as his charges have shown they can be clinical in recent weeks, but he is worried about his defence.

Despite the side scoring 11 times in the last three games, they still leaked in five goals, a situation which is a cause for concern for the youthful coach.

“We are very much alert in our games and we will not change our game-plan against Harare City. I am not putting any pressure on my boys, they will march onto the pitch to enjoy themselves,” said Maruwa.

“Harare City are a very good team, in fact one of the best in the Premiership. I have watched them play, well they are really good. The way they pass the ball around is just something else, their transition is well up there and they can also be dangerous when attacking.

“Early in the season, we had been having problems in terms of scoring, but I am glad we are now scoring. We have always been creating chances, but we were largely unable to finish them off.

“In the recent matches we have been scoring, which is very encouraging. I have no doubt that as long as we create chances, we will continue to score,”

He said the Sunshine Boys are difficult to beat, but his team, which forced the City to a goalless draw in the first round, will rise to the occasion.

“Harare City are a good side and we do respect them, but we also want to win the match. We are gunning for a top eight finish and if we win against Harare City, we will take a huge step towards that goal.

“But we need to be very compact in defence to avoid letting in goals. I am still not very much happy with the way we are conceding. We scored 11 goals in the last three matches, but we also conceded five in those games, which is not a good sign of a team which wants to do well. When you score, you are supposed to defend those goals. That we have not been doing in a convincing way.

“We need to stabilise our defence and be the team which is able to both score and defend the goals,” Maruwa said.