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We’ve buried the past: Caps

Sport
He said that the defeat, which was their first this season, having drawn their previous four matches, will in fact help them as they target a contest for the title they last won in 2016.

BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe has described their 6-2 shellacking at the hands of Manica Diamonds at the weekend as a minor setback in their quest to win the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title.

He said that the defeat, which was their first this season, having drawn their previous four matches, will in fact help them as they target a contest for the title they last won in 2016.

Caps play WhaWha on Sunday as their search for their first set of maximum points continues.

Chitembwe, however, said while it was disappointing to lose in Mutare, they have since gotten over it and were focused on the upcoming clash against WhaWha at the National Sports Stadium.

“It (defeat) was a disappointment, but sometimes you don’t want it to affect your ambitions. I am such a person who does not want a defeat to crush me for more than 24 hours just as in a win I don’t want to be excited for over 24 hours,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to a change in fortunes.

“That has been my nature from days as a player and coach because I know there are a lot of things ahead of me. These are things we try to impart in players.  I thought it was a poor defensive performance in Mutare, especially in the opening stages. I thought we were not as tight as we should have been. We did give them a lot of space. They were able to play the ball behind our defence and obviously were first and quick to react to loose balls and their execution was good. We have to give them credit for that. But all the same, it is still early days in the season. I still believe in each of these players. The season is still in its infancy, it is a long way to go. We have the capacity to win games, the potential is there to win things and I am looking forward to a change in fortunes. Liverpool were beaten 7-1 by Aston Villa, but they went on to finish second,” Chitembwe said.

The coach added that the mistakes made in Mutare were not new.

“What is important is what those mistakes bring about in the team. They bring a new vigour in the team to want to do better, a new motivation and a change in attitude. These are the things we are working,” he said.

Asked whether there would be changes in defence, Chitembwe responded emphatically.

“Yes, there will be significant changes in attitude not changes in playing personnel. The team remains the same and the change we are going to see which we have already seen is the attitude,” he said.

The defeat to Manica Diamonds was Caps’ first since Chitembwe took over after rejoining from Harare City.

Caps have since slipped to eight points off the pace as Manica Diamonds and Chicken Inn sit on first and second positions with 12 points each.

  • Follow Tawanda on Twitter @tafitawa