A HARARE giants CAPS United will be hoping to break the Baobab stadium hoodoo and claim their first league victory over Ngezi Platinum Stars when they visit the Mhondoro-Ngezi-based side for what promises to be a mouth-watering Castle Lager Premier Soccer League matchup this afternoon.
Makepekepe have failed to win against Ngezi Platinum in Mhondoro-Ngezi since the miners gained promotion into the topflight league back in 2016.
In their five previous visits, the Green Machine managed three draws and two defeats, the losses coming in their last two trips to Baobab Stadium.
However, this time around the Lloyd Chitembwe coached side travel to Mhondoro-Ngezi on a high after putting up a stellar performance to upstage Manica Diamonds 2 -0 in their first match of the season in Harare last weekend.
Ngezi Platinum, meanwhile, lost two points on the road as they played a one-all draw with Bulawayo Chiefs.
Chitembwe is wary of the threat that is posed by their hosts, especially the good form that they showed in the run up to the end of the season last year.
“Honestly speaking, Ngezi Platinum Stars are not a small team. I was particularly impressed by how they finished the season last year. And if there is any strength you see in that team it's continuity and that tells you there are some good things that they are doing,” Chitembwe said.
“So the expectation is to go out there and face a very competitive Ngezi Platinum Stars team. Our expectation is to go there and give a good performance for ourselves. I believe that all these things that we do we do for ourselves. I think it's very important to go there and be confident and at the same time have the hope that you can win the match,” he added.
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The 51-year-old coach refused to look much into the teams’ impressive start to the season because he feels there is still a lot of work to be done to improve.
“It was just one game and we still have to travel a long journey in the season. I think there are one or two positives to take from our first match, but we still want to work hard in our training sessions and every training day gives us an opportunity to improve,” he said.
After a difficult season which was marred by on and off field problems last year, CAPS United are looking forward to a much better season by competing for honours.
Chitembwe has improved the team in quality and depth, bringing a number of top players such as Godknows Murwira, Kelvin Madzongwe, Tafadzwa Rusike and King Nadolo, among others.
And facing Ngezi Platinum Stars provides an acid test for Chitembwe and his charges.
The match kicks off at 1pm.
