Dynamos interim coach Lloyd “MaBlanyo” Chigowe believes that their upcoming Castle Lager Premiership match against Simba Bhora on Saturday will serve as valuable preparation for the team’s upcoming CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round tie against Zambian side ZESCO United.
DeMbare will face Simba Bhora at Barbourfields Stadium this weekend before hosting ZESCO United in the continental competition next week in Botswana.
Chigowe, who was appointed to the role after the recent dismissal or resignation of Genesis Mangombe, is confident that performing well against Simba Bhora will help the team’s readiness for the ZESCO United clash. He said (via H-Metro):
When you play a humdinger of a match against a club like Simba Bhora who are top of the table, it’s a good preparation and a good test.
I think it will allow us to gauge where we are going and what our capabilities are. When you are the head coach of Dynamos, you are under pressure.
Every team that you play against wants to beat Dynamos and it will be no exception when we play against Simba Bhora.
Simba Bhora are on a roll and we will be out to make sure that we play to stop them.
We are happy to play at Barbourfields. Actually, last year we collected the majority of our points when we migrated to Barbourfields.
Chigowe believes the CAF Confederation Cup campaign will provide Dynamos with a valuable opportunity to build resilience on the African continent, as they are set to face relatively weaker opponents compared to the giants of African football. Said Mablanyo:
Dynamos reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2008 and it was a bigger tournament than this one.
And, for a team that has been away from African football for a decade, I think the Confederation Cup is a good entry point.
Rather than go back directly to the Champions League and face giants like Al Ahly and Esperance, we face our neighbours ZESCO and we aim to improve from there.
We have got good chances, but you have to work hard to achieve your objectives in any area of your endeavour.
Meanwhile, Chigowe’s assistant Murape Murape is not accredited to join him in the dugout, while a new goalkeepers’ coach is still being sought to replace Brito Gwere.
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