HIGH-RIDING Chicken Inn entertain Tripple B at Luveve Stadium today in a Castle Lager Premiership match that will be broadcast live on SuperSport 9 as the per-per-view service provider comes to Bulawayo for the first time after penning a deal with the local league.
Report by Fortune Mbele
Chicken Inn are fresh from holding champions Dynamos toa 1-1 draw at Rufaro Stadium on Monday and beating Triangle 2-1 at Luveve last week and face the border-town league newcomers who have fallen twice in their first two matches.
However, the GameCox head coach Lulu Mpofu, who will be missing the services of skipper Felix Chindungwe and midfielder Thabani Goredema, is not reading much into Tripple B’s last two downfalls.
Instead, he is expecting a backlash from the Friday Phiri-coached Beitbridge outfit.
“They (Tripple B) have lost their two matches, but maybe they have just been on a bad patch. Like any other team, they are out for three points and we are also gunning for maximum points.
“It is going to be a tough match and we are going to give it our best. We played two matches in four days and tomorrow (today) we are without Chindungwe who pulled a hamstring and Thabani who suffered a knock on his right knee in the Dynamos’ match. But we have replacements that can do the same thing,” Mpofu said.
He said his boys have had a marked improvement since the first game against Triangle at home.
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“We did not play well against Triangle though we managed to get three points and there was an improvement against Dynamos. I guess tomorrow (today) it will be even better and we will try not to concede any goals, but score more. If I come out tomorrow then I know I am definitely in competition,” Mpofu said. On the other hand, Tripple B seek to get their first set of three points away after the first two defeats.
Tripple B fell 2-0 to How Mine last Thursday before another 2-1 loss to Black Mambas at home at Dulibadzimu Stadium on Monday.
However, coach Friday Phiri said Chicken Inn will be one of their toughest matches and they are hoping to rise from their slump.
“It is one of our toughest games. They (Chicken Inn) are the team of the moment, but we have to stand up and fight. The team is shaping up; it’s only that we have been failing to score and we have been conceding silly goals. But we have to start to picking up points,” Phiri said.
In another match at Luveve tomorrow, former champions Monomotapa welcome back central defender Morgan Mungombwe as they track down new boys How Mine. Mungombwe did not play in the first two matches after sustaining an injury during the NetOne Charity Shield semi-final against Chicken Inn on March 9 and has since recovered.
“We are happy that our centre-back returns and the rest of the guys are okay. We are happy with the performance in the last two games. We just lost concentration in the first game and regrouped and managed to get three points in the second. We have got a new team and our young players need game time to gain confidence. It will be difficult, but we are prepared for How Mine who have a lot of experienced players,” Zuze said.
