BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe yesterday spoke glowingly about new arrival Joel “Josta” Ngodzo, but said they will be patient as the midfielder works to get the right fitness level.
The 2019 Soccer Star of the Year re-joined the Harare football giants from rivals Highlanders on transfer deadline a week ago. A turbulent period which saw Caps United going for a dismal run of seven successive defeats spread across the first and second half forced the club to plunge back into the market for reinforcements with Emmanuel Mandiranga, Blessing Sarupinda, Tichaona Chipunza, Powel Govere and Ngodzo coming on board.
And Chitembwe, while acknowledging that Ngodzo was a vital addition who will contribute to the team’s overall objective, he said they will not rush the midfielder into action when they host Bulawayo City at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
“It’s still a long way before he can play a part,” Chitembwe said.
“The team has been doing very well in recent weeks. It’s good to have Josta. We know what he is capable of on condition that he has very good physical, technical and mental fitness. But I think he needs a couple of weeks to be in the state where he can give us what he is capable of. We are very patient with him.”
The Caps United gaffer said they have had good preparations ahead of the match and would build on the decent results they have been posting of late.
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“We had a very credible preparatory period and we are looking forward to the match. We are fully aware it won’t be easy. The expectation is a very difficult match but as Caps United we will try and impose ourselves on the match,” said Chitembwe.
“This is our objective and the target is obviously to try and win it. We play to win matches. Difficult as they may be, the ultimate objective is to win. Week by week, the team is getting stronger. The coming in of Emmanuel, Powell Gowere, Josta and others has given us another dimension in the way we want to play. We want to keep improving as a team so that we finish the season in a respectable position.”
Caps United will be hoping to maintain the momentum as they fight to move further away from the drop zone.
They sit on 12th position on the league table with 26 points and are unbeaten in the past five matches during which they have won twice and drawn thrice.
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