Kiglon will be missing five of their regular players through injury when they travel to Hippo Valley for a Mbada Diamonds Cup quarter-final showdown with Zimbabwe Saints set for Chishamiso Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
Mudiwa Mususa, Casper Machona, Kennedy Mageja, Kumbirai Kapikinyi and former Caps United forward Last Chibwiro, who all started in their 3-2 win over Masvingo last week, have all been ruled out.
Coach Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe yesterday confirmed the five players will not travel to the Lowveld. Kiglon are set to leave Harare today.
“I would have wanted to rotate my players because I have got very important matches ahead, but I won’t be able to do that because half of the team is injured. My hope now is that these players will be fit for our Premier Soccer League match against Monomotapa next week,” said Jongwe.
The charismatic coach is on record having stated his priority was not in the Mbada Diamond Cup, but surviving relegation.
Kiglon are trapped in the relegation dogfight on 14th position with only four games before the season ends. “My priority remains the same. If we manage to win the cup it will be a bonus, but our focus right now is to avoid relegation.
We are a very small team and the few resources we have won’t allow us to fight on two fronts. Like any other club we have ambitions to win every competition we play in, but we have to be realistic sometimes.
The truth of the matter is we don’t have enough players to play in the cup games as well as the league next week. The injuries to some players have already worsened our situation.
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Surviving relegation is more important to us than anything else,” said Jongwe.
On his opposition tomorrow, Jongwe said, “Zimbabwe Saints are a very strong side. They are in a very difficult position in the league and might probably be thinking we are not going to survive.
They will want to salvage something from the season so they will put everything in this cup. We will just have to go there and do our best,” added Jongwe.
In other quarter-final matches lined up, FC Platinum take on their bogey side Gunners at the Colliery tomorrow while Blue Ribbon will be hoping to cause a major upset when they clash with Motor Action at Torwood Stadium in Redcliff on Sunday.
High-riding Dynamos and relegation-haunted Shooting Stars will take their rivalry to Maglas Stadium on Sunday in a typical Goliath versus David clash. Mbada Diamond Cup quarterfinal fixtures:
Saturday: FC Platinum v Gunners (Colliery, Hwange), Kiglon v Zimbabwe Saints (Chishamiso, Hippo Valley) Sunday: Blue Ribbon v Motor Action (Torwood, Redcliff), Dynamos v Shooting Stars (Maglas, Zvishavane)
