HARARE - Black Rhinos coach Stanford “Stix” Mutizwa has challenged his charges to bounce back and breathe life into their faltering campaign when they face high-riding Harare neighbours CAPS United this afternoon.
The army side head to the giant National Sports Stadium on the back of a five-game losing streak which has wiped away all the good work they had done in the first round of the season.
On Saturday, Rhinos put in a good performance but still went down 1-0 to log-leaders Chicken Inn at Rufaro Stadium.
That poor run has seen Mutizwa’s side dropping from the summit of the Castle Lager Premiership log to eighth place on 31 points.
Rhinos now trail Chicken Inn by a massive 14 points with 12 games to go before the season comes to an end.
On the other hand, Makepekepe have won three of their last four matches and have seemingly awoken from their slumber which climaxed in their elimination from the Caf Champions League and in their last game on Sunday, the Green Machine put up a near-flawless performance as they walloped title challengers Ngezi Platinum Stars 3-0 at Rufaro Stadium.
[GoogleAd]
“Everybody has to look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they are giving everything,” Mutizwa told the Daily News.
“If not, they have to start straight away, because what we are doing at the moment is really not good enough. Everybody needs to grow up now. We need to come out and show that we are real men.
“We have to try and turn it around against CAPS to instil confidence back into the team. We have to show the fight and passion, and everybody needs to put in a proper performance.”
Mutizwa said they have been playing well lately with their biggest letdown being poor finishing in front of goal.
In those five matches they have lost, Chauya Chipembere only scored twice in the 4-2 defeat to Ngezi Platinum.
“It’s now five games on the receiving end. In terms of playing, my boys are playing well. If you look at our last game, we created some good chances but still failed to score,” he said.
“We have been putting more emphasis on our finishing. It’s one area that we really need to work hard if we entertain any hopes of winning. So yes, we are looking forward to seeing the boys rectifying those mistakes.”
Mutizwa, however, reckons that it will not be an easy match given the form CAPS have shown lately.
“The big difference is that we are now meeting a team which is doing well. We are playing defending champions and it’s not going to be an easy match,” he said.
The Green Machine seem to be on a spring and will go in today’s match high on confidence after their recent good run.
“For now, we are running our own race, I think it’s in the book of Corinthians, which says that you should run your own race,” CAPS assistant coach Tostao Kwashi said.
“We have set targets for ourselves and because of what we did last year the barometer has been high and that’s the reason why people have been saying a lot of negative things when we were going through a bad patch.
“We don’t want to talk a lot about the league title right now, what we want to talk about is our next game against Black Rhinos. It’s going to be another tough battle. So as it is right now, it’s all about taking it step by step and going up the ladder. We just need to keep on working hard.”
Fixtures
Today: CAPS United v Black Rhinos (National Sports), Highlanders v Tsholotsho (Barbourfields)
Tomorrow: How Mine v Dynamos (Barbourfields)
[Adz]