DYNAMOS have been handed a major boost ahead of their Chibuku Super Cup quarter-final football clash against Lloyd Mutasa’s WhaWha at Rufaro Stadium on Saturday, with Ronald Chitiyo and Ocean Mushure both returning to training. Henry Mhara
Chitiyo missed Dynamos’ last three matches while Mushure did not feature in the team’s last match on Sunday, a 1-0 defeat to Highlanders in a cup final, due to injuries and there were fears that the two would not be ready to face the new boys.
Now the duo are expected to return, with Chitiyo’s availability of particular importance as he has been the team’s engine room so far, creating chances and scoring goals for the league champions.
The other good news for Dynamos is that defender Sidney Linyama who was stretchered off against Highlanders has also returned to training, and so has fellow defender Elisha Muroiwa.
The three were heavily involved at the team’s morning training session yesterday and were part of a group of seven Dynamos players who were star guests at Dzivarasekwa High School 1 where the club’s main sponsor BancABC donated a football kit.
The players, who also included team captain Augustine Mbara, Rodreck Mutuma, Takesure Chinyama and goalkeeper Artwell Mukandi, conducted a coaching clinic for the school’s football team.
Speaking at the function, Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya confirmed that Chitiyo is back and is banking on the star player against WhaWha as he looks to put the disappointing loss to Highlanders behind.
“The team has been lacking the final pass of late and Rooney is that kind of player who can create chances, who can assist and can score goals. So it’s an added advantage that he is back and the strikers are also happy to have his kind of player in the team. He is one guy who can win a game single-handedly,” Ndiraya said.
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To which Mutuma, who missed a glut of chances against Highlanders, jokingly concurred:
“I was trying to do Chitiyo’s job of creating chances against Highlanders, but now that he is back, I will now do my duties of scoring.”
Ndiraya added: “We want the team to be a bit more creative because in the second half of that match I thought the boys didn’t do enough in that aspect and I hope going forward they should know what to do when the opposition sits back. That is what we were working on this week, and we want them to keep the ball as much as possible.
“Linyama is up and running. He sat out training yesterday, but the injury was not as bad as we thought. He is okay, he has done full training with the other guys, he is looking good and we hope he will be with us at the weekend because he is an important member of the team.”
The bad news for Ndiraya is that Masimba Mambare has been ruled out of the match due to a persistent knee injury.
The knee problem forced him out of the team for the better part of last season.
“Masimba got injured, he played the entire match but then after that we discovered that he had some fluid in his knee so he is out for this match,” said Ndiraya.
The Dynamos coach would be looking for a response from his players after the Highlanders defeat, which was on his debut as the team’s head coach after replacing the fired David Mandigora.
