HIGHLANDERS head coach Madinda Ndlovu says he is not concerned about a result when his team meet Chicken Inn in the semi-finals of the ZNA Commander’s Charity Shield at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday, but to assess how his side is shaping up ahead of the new Premier Soccer League season which kicks off in just over three weeks.
BY FORTUNE MBELE
Ndlovu’s team was held to a goalless draw by newly-promoted Nichrut in a friendly match at Luveve last Sunday and the coach expects his youthful squad to show some improvement in the weekend game.
“We are not reading much about who our opponent is going to be, but what we picked up from our last friendly match and try and rectify what we saw from that game and improve on certain aspects of our players. It’s more of trying to get the smooth running of the team than looking at the opponents. I am not really looking at winning anything at the moment, but trying to get the whole machine operating,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu used the match against Nichrut to feature new squad members including former Tsholotsho defender McClive Phiri, ex- Bantu Rovers midfielder Munyaradzi Chitambwe, striker Thabo Lunga, Nigel Makombe, Musaka and returning forward Ozias Zibande,
The Highlanders legend, who was appointed recently, retired most of the senior members of the squad, opting to build his team around the young Turks with the likes of Peter Muduhwa, Adrian Silla, Godfrey Makaruse, Ray Lunga, Charlton Siamalonga, Honest Moyo and Gabriel Nyoni set to lead the team.
“We designed that game just to give the boys a run and see how they are combining. It was more of combinations than anything else. As the technical team, we took the positives and the negatives to work on. We were slightly impressed with the performance although we played a team that just got promotion. I think the boys did very well. There is still a lot to be done, but the positives are the boys are executing themselves properly,” he said.
Simon Munawa, one of the players who was sent packing by Ndlovu before settling for Chicken Inn, is set to face his former side for the first time. Chicken Inn are one of the sides with arguably one of the strongest squads in the league this year having also made additions in ex-How Mine defender Kudzai Chideu and Wellington Kamudyariwa from Yadah FC.
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Former How Mine striker Toto Banda and Harare City’s Kuda Kumwala have also been training with Chicken Inn who are now coached by Joey Antipas, who won the title with the side in 2015.
Winners of the match will play either Dynamos or Caps United in the final of the tournament, who meet in the other semi-final in Harare on Sunday.
