BY TERRY MADYAUTA/COURAGE NYAYA NORMAN Mapeza’s youthful squad has bigger ambitions than settling for a top four spot despite a six-point gap between them and leaders Chicken Inn on the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League table.
“We are not just fighting to finish in the top four, but we are playing to see how good the season ends for us,” Mapeza said at his Press briefing ahead of a potentially tough home tie against Triangle.
The defending champions started the season on an indifferent note after letting go a number of senior players in a rebuilding exercise that appeared to have derailed their hopes of winning a fourth title on the bounce.
But their recent exploits seem to have just reignited their hopes for better things ahead, especially as the youthful players are gaining in confidence.
After 15 matches they are just six points of the top, with the verdict for their abandoned clash against Highlanders pending.
Triangle are a potential banana skin, with the Lowveld side on a three-match winning streak, scoring seven goals without a reply in the process against Bulawayo City, Caps United and Yadah respectively.
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“We are playing a very good team, Triangle, they are doing well which means it’s not going to be any easy match. We have to pick up from where we left when we played against Yadah in Harare,” Mapeza said.
Triangle coach Jairos Tapera said the enforced break could affect his team’s rhythm and alleged bad officiating at the home of FC Platinum.
“The game against FC Platinum is like any other game. We have not yet started dreaming about the league title,” Tapera told NewsDay Sports.
“We are a small team in terms of how we are assembled. FC Platinum is a big team, remember they are the reigning champions, and we give them enough respect but we don’t respect the match officiating that have been has been happening at Mandava.
“From the last game we played and the suspensions of the league it has surely affected our rhythm, we are going into the game starting from zero.”
Triangle are three points ahead of their opponents.
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