DYNAMOS coach Tonderai Ndiraya believes a victory over city rivals Caps United in the Harare derby on Sunday would complete what he has described as “a good season“ for the club, despite finishing the campaign without silverware.
There has been speculation over Ndiraya’s future at the club since FC Platinum were confirmed league champions a few weeks ago.
But the former midfielder, whose contract with the club runs out at the end of the year, believes the club has done well despite the fierce criticism from a section of the club's supporters who are angry after the club also crashed out of the Chibuku Super Cup at the quarterfinals stage.
"It's important that we finish the season strongly," said Ndiraya who will be looking to guide his team to a rare double over Caps United in a match set for the National Sports Stadium.
"I generally believe that we have had a good season, judging by our recent past standards. In the last six years we have not been doing well as a team, so I think this has been a huge achievement in terms of building the team. Going forward I think the team has a strong chance of winning the title. We are back to be a title contender after quite a long time of being on the other side of the log. So it's important for us to finish strongly so that we lay the foundation for next season's campaign."
Ndiraya, who has a month-and-half left on his contract, refused to be drawn on whether he would still be in charge of the team next year with the club's executive — reportedly divided over the issue — set to meet anytime soon to discuss his future.
He said his only concern at the moment is to get a good result in their final game of the season, which could potentially see them finish the campaign on second position.
“It's a derby, naturally you want to do well in such a game so we are planning with that in mind and hopefully we can get a good result like we did in the first game against Caps United.”
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Dynamos won the reverse fixture 3-0.
“We expect that it's going to be difficult because derbies are very difficult to predict. Form doesn't count on the day, so we expect a lot of competitiveness on the pitch and hopefully we can get people coming to cheer their teams. Despite the game being played after the championship is long won, it still brings a lot of excitement from everyone.”
The Glamour Boys will be looking to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to Herentals last week.
They welcome back two key players who missed last week’s match due to suspension.
“We have been talking to the players to forget about last week's result. It was devastating but they look to have gotten over it and the mood in camp is quite encouraging, so we expect a very good game. Preparations have been good, we don't have any injury worries. We are happy to welcome back Tino Muringai and Trevor Mavhunga, who were missing last week due to suspension,” Ndiraya said.
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