Kiglon FC coach Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe said they will be fulfilling the inaugural $1 million Mbada Diamonds Cup tie against Chicken Inn at Mucheke Stadium on Saturday although their main priority was not winning the Cup, but surviving the chop from the Castle Lager Premier League.
The draw for the tournament was conducted in Harare last Friday.
Kiglon face relegation and they are second from the bottom of the Premiership log table with 20 points from 23 matches.
In an interview with NewsDay Sport on Wednesday, Jongwe said they did not have the energy to fight against relegation and for a cup game at the same time.
“We are not reading much into the game against Chicken Inn. They have beaten us twice and we are now only focusing on surviving relegation. We do not have the energy to fight on two fronts. We will, however, fulfil the fixture, as it is a welcome development to have sponsorship for the league. We are already looking at our next league match against Shabanie Mine,” he said.
However, his counterpart, Chicken Inn coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube, has urged his team not to underestimate Kiglon FC clash when the two clash for the third time.
“A cup game is very tricky. We have played Kiglon twice and we have beaten them. However, the team must not be complacent. The players have to be at their best and not underestimate Kiglon at all,” he said.
In the first league encounter Chicken Inn beat Kiglon 3-1 before they hammered them 5-0 under the tutelage of the then acting head coach Pearson Matipedza while Jongwe had shifted base to Caps United.
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Chicken Inn got their goals from Tendai Ndoro who scored a brace while Evans Chikwaikwai, Morris Kadzola and Brian Mbiriri notched up a goal each in the 5-0 drubbing.
Upfront Ncube has options in Thomas Chimenya, Daniel Zokoto, Chikwaikwai and Evans Ndoro.
In the middle of the park the Morris Kadzola, Canaan Nkomo, Heritani Masuku and Danny Phiri will be in a tussle against Kiglon’s Nelson Madzivisa, Yves Ebabili and Brighton Pamhirwa.
Kiglon will look up to veteran More Moyo, Lawrence Mwashita and Last Chibwiro to slice open the Chicken Inn defence marshalled by captain Skhumbuzo Banda, veteran Herbert Dick, Gilbert Majoni and Felix Chindungwe.
Former Caps United player Arnold Chiveya, Kumbirai Kapikinyu and Casper Machona will be hoping to keep the Chicken Inn forwards at bay. Stephen Chimusoro is likely to get the number one jersey for Kiglon.
