Coach Perry Mutapa has previewed our week-22 match against Power Dynamos FC during a zoom meeting held with the media this morning. This match is set for Edwin Imboela Stadium at 13hours tomorrow.
Here’s how the pre-match press briefing was;
Q. Your team play your former team Power Dynamos and you lost by a goal to nil in the first half, what are your expectations for this match?
It will be a very very tough match, playing my former team which is also a team on top of the log and in the last four games they have not done well. I know they wanted to win games to close off the gap which they have not done, so obviously they will come into this game very wounded.
Q. Between the two teams, you had a very good January collecting 10 from a possible 12 points while they collected four points. Going into this match, do you think your boys will have a mindset of thinking they’re the favorites?
Football is a funny game, of course we are the form team but the application on the day of the game has to be there. So, coming into this match, we are very confident because we are at home, and Power Dynamos are away, but of course they are on top and I know they don’t want to lose this game. They’re coming here, they’re wounded but we are confident not because we have collected 10 points but because it’s a game where we are at home and need to collect maximum points.
Q. This will be an interesting game because you’re a like a common denominator in these fixtures, in one instance, you play a team on top of the table, in the other your former team Forest Rangers will be hoping you win this match so they can go on top of the log, how does that work out for you?
I think it’s the first biggest and interesting match in the second round, if we get maximum points we will throw the title race very open and everyone is looking at us especially the teams that are fighting to win the title. But also, Power not doing well in the last four games means they will come here all prepared and won’t show complacency which will make the game tough. But ours is to focus on our business, if we win, we win for ourselves to keep closing on the gab with teams above us.
Q. Looking at your form and tomorrow’s game, should you win you reduce the gap on Power Dynamos if Forest don’t win do you think there some temptations of going for the title despite you saying your main objective is stabilizing?
We are not going to be carried away, in football and in life there should be some lessons learnt. This is a team which participated in continental and got demoted from the league probably because they neglected the league which made it impossible for the team to survive relegation. So, for now our priority and focus is beating the relegation mark and then we can talk about something else. So, for now our focus is collecting maximum points.
Q. In the first round of the season, you dropped a lot of points, you went through a bad phase and you said it’s good you the bad patch came early enough in the season for you to work on the learns in the second round, do you think this has helped you to pick up form and perform better in the second round so far?
Yes, I believe so because this is a game of different characters and a lot of eagles. We started doing badly after going through a good patch and at one point we were even fourth. So yes it was good we went through in the early days because it’s very difficult in the second round to rectify mistakes. We had the chance to rectify the mistakes and focus and we don’t have to take the results we have recorded for granted and just work hard.
Q. Let’s talk about the character of your players now. The first round was not too good for them.
I always talk about football being a project and it’s the same about winning the league. Even my coming to NASPS Stars when the team was in Division One, was a project for me and even sharing my philosophy with the team. Slowly I believe even this season we are doing that and it’s just a matter of time and the boys have done well so far. Even from the games we did not do well, we created a lot of chances and I knew this. Our biggest problem was scoring goals, so I think we just have to put in a lot do work because we are now burying the chances.