Mighty Mukuru Wanderers’ Head Coach, Mark Simon Harrison said his charges are ready to bounce back to winning ways as they face Karonga United this afternoon at the Kamuzu Stadium.
However, the Tactician has clearly indicated that it will not be a facile task as Karonga as the most in-form team currently in the TNM Super League hence urging his players to be equally good physically and mentally.
The Nomads are coming from a disappointing defeat to Mafco FC in the FDH Bank Cup and they have played two games in all competitions without a win.
Speaking to the Club’s Media, Harrison said the players need to give their for them to get the results.
“It’s not going to be an easy task,” he said. “Karonga United are the most in-form team at the moment in the league. But I have said it on many occasions, I don’t think that there is an easy task for us.
“Every time a team comes against us, they wanna prove a point and they raise their games by 100% so we just have to be ready.”
Karonga United are unbeaten in their last five games, winning four and drawing one. Their Head Coach, Trevor Kajawa said they are in Blantyre for a mission though it will be a tough game.
Fringe players to get minutes as Mark hits on squad rotation
Mark Harrison said they are in a hectic period and the best way to manage the squad is to rotate players.
With another mouth-watering game coming over the weekend as they travel to Lilongwe to face the two-time Airtel Top 8 Cup winners, Silver Strikers in the Season Six of the competition, Mark Harrison said some of his regular players will be rested to avoid injuries as the game against Silver is the most crucial one.
“It’s part of football, it’s part of a professional game and we need to get over the [loss]. Obviously we were massively disappointed on Saturday evening but when you wake up on Sunday morning you have to start focusing on the next game and the next game is against Karonga United tomorrow [Wednesday].
“I think the players are okay mentally and physically. It’s a hectic period we are in now. I am going to start rotating the squad around. Some players will be rested tomorrow because we have another big game on Saturday away to Silver and another big one against Eagles the following Wednesday. So there is going to be a lot of rotation in the coming next sort of four or five weeks as we are playing three games a week every week,” he said.
The Nomads are already out of one tournament after losing to Mafco FC. Super League, Airtel Top 8, Castel Challenge Cup remain for grab. Harrison said they need to perform week in and week out for them to win trophies.
Commenting on the title race, Harrison said all of the teams in top four has the chance to win the League but as for Wanderers, they have to win games back-to-back.
“We have about ten games to go before the end of the league. I think any one of the top four can win it. I know Bullets have a couple of games in hand but they have a big backlog of fixtures and they will drop points, make no mistake.
“We have to work on consistency to our game and win back to back. It is a bit frustrating to win and draw, win and draw, we have to try and put three, four or five games together and win back to back. If we can do that then we can put ourselves in the right position for the final few games of the league. I think our biggest problem all season has been taking our chances when they come. We have been creating so many opportunities in each and every game and it’s so frustrating.
“We miss the target, the keeper makes the save, we hit the post, we hit the cross bar. We have to get more clinical in front of the goal. You know we work on that in training but the boys when it comes in the game situation that’s where they got to deliver.”
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers are third on the log table with 37 points from 20 games while Chitipa United are leading the table with 39 points from 21 games.
They have had a good run of results against Karonga United, winning 10 games in 16 meetings and they have just lost one game at home in this fixture.