FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza has described Dynamos as a “massive club” ahead of a Castle Lager Premiership football match against the Glamour Boys at Mandava Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The platinum miners would naturally want to immediately bounce back to winning ways following the defeat away to Bulawayo Chiefs last weekend.
Speaking ahead of the match against Dembare which has been brought forward to 1 PM kick-off, Mapeza said:
It’s a massive game for us as a club. As you know Dynamos, they are who they are; a massive club in the country and we have so much respect for them.
They have got a rich history in Zimbabwean football but at the end of the day, it’s a game of football.
If you look at our past records, I think they have been the dominant side but this is a different ball game altogether now, a new season.
FC Platinum and Dynamos last met in the Chibuku Super Cup semi-finals at Baobab Stadium, with the former winning 1-0 en route to winning the title.
Reflecting on the loss to Bulawayo Chiefs last weekend, Mapeza said he wasn’t really disappointed by the loss. He said:
I wasn’t really disappointed that we lost to Chiefs because of circumstances that were beyond our control.
But I was happy with our performance and with four-five games to come, I think everybody will be in good condition to perform better.
There were some situations where I think we did very well against Chiefs but also there were some moments that I think we could have done better in terms of our defending.
We conceded two goals in the first half in the space of 15 minutes and then in the second half, it happened again.
So tomorrow (today) it’s all about maximum concentration because if we are going to concede early it will be difficult for us.
FC Platinum has released several senior players, among them Silas Songani, Stanley Ngala, Rahman Kutsanzira, Kelvin Madzongwe, Donald Ngoma, Rodwell Chinyengetere, Denzel Khumalo, Donald Dzvinyai and Ralph Kawondera.
Mapeza however, retained experienced players like Gift Mbweti, Rainsome Pavari, Donald Teguru while Walter Musona returned from South Africa.
Young players on FC Platinum’s books include the likes of Panashe Mutimbanyoka, Oscar Bhebhe, Kelvin Mangiza, Thando Ngwenya, Hagiazo Magaya and Nigerian Abubakar Onifadeh.