With the March International Break currently on, NAPSA Stars Football Club Head Coach Perry Mutapa has urged his players to stay focused during this short break.
NAPSA Stars FC only has Jimmy Mukeya as part of the under-23 Zambia national team that is in Egypt for the AFCON Qualifier.
The Head coach has advised the rest of the players not to get carried away with the five nil victory recorded in their last match played against Ndola based side Buildcon FC.
With the current international break, the league will only resume on 1 April 2023 with NAPSA Stars being hosted by Zanaco Football Club for a week-28 match.
And the team head Coach has described the month of March as a successful one for his side which has managed to win both games played on the 4th and 18th respectively.
The last match saw NAPSA Stars beat Buildcon by five goals to nil to see the Perry Mutapa-drilled side move two steps up the ladder from eighth to sixth position with 39 points after 27 games played.
“Very important wins in the month of March, as you can see where we have moved, so we just have to keep our fit on the ground and make sure we work harder in the coming games,” Coach Perry said.
Only seven games are remaining to conclude this current league campaign which will only see two top teams representing the country for CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup competitions respectively.
But Coach Perry has stressed that CAF inter-club competition is currently not in his plans, as the team is more focused on stabilizing in the MTN Super League, especially coming from competing in Division One.
NAPSA Stars who are better on goal difference, are sharing 39 points with Prison Leopards and Green Eagles who are seventh and eighth on the log respectively.
On ninth and 10th position is Nkana and Zesco United who have 38 and 37 points respectively, a situation that has seen coach Perry be both worry of, and excited about the competitiveness of the current campaign.
“The last games coming up are very crucial, we are not yet safe and we want to do well, coming from the first division and at the position we are at, it means we are doing something right, so we are going to continue and make sure we do our best in the coming matches,” Coach Perry adds.
The Coach has also added that his technical bench will try to manage the player’s fatigue during this break, but at the same time make sure no player loses their fitness.
He explains that the technical bench will arrange a friendly match to keep the boys in shape during this break, but also use other days to train the boys like they are preparing for a game.
The Coach has also shared the team’s target for the month of April saying the aim is to win all four matches, but most importantly, use the same month to beat the relegation mark.
NAPSA Stars will face Zanaco in their next match before hosting Green Buffalos for their week-29 match. The team will also visit Chambishi before coming back to Lusaka to host Nchanga Rangers in their last match of the month of April.