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Eddie Chikamhi, Harare Bureau
THE Caps United management have insisted that coach Lloyd Chitembwe will stay at the Green Machine despite hinting he was on the verge of quitting following the loss to newboys Yadah on Tuesday.

Club chief executive Cuthbert Chitima was yesterday battling to bring unity to the Makepekepe family ahead of a crucial Caf Champions League match against Egyptian giants Zamalek at the National Sports Stadium this Sunday.

Makepekepe have endured a difficult phase in the last two weeks after losing back-to-back matches to Al Ahli Tripoli of Libya in the Champions League and then coming back home to crash to a 0-2 humiliation by Yadah Stars.

Chitembwe told reporters after the defeat to the Premiership debutants he could have run his race and was contemplating passing the baton to someone else.

On the same evening one of their captains Dennis Dauda was dismissed from the club for making “reckless” statements on social media.

Chitima yesterday said their coaching unit was still intact as Chitembwe had not communicated with the management on his plans.

“We haven’t discussed anything with the coach concerning that issue. But we should also understand that with such a result one is bound to be frustrated.

“He is human, he can get emotional and it’s very understandable the way he reacted to the defeat but as Caps United we are fully behind our coach.

“We will support him in every way possible and we are saying if he feels we should do more as management we are here to complement his efforts,” said Chitima.

Shortly before the midweek match, Dauda had posted a controversial statement on his Facebook wall which led some people to question his commitment to Makepekepe.

“Of course, there is a backlog in  salaries but the situation is not as bad as some people would want to portray. The  only salary that hasn’t been paid is for May and we have tried to explain that to the players.

“I think you would appreciate that we are faced with such a difficult scenario in Zimbabwe that delays in salaries should not be treated as something out of this world. But a strong commitment is being made and we are trying by all means to be upto date.

“On Dauda, his case was discussed at board level and he has been transfer-listed. The reason was that he was reckless and careless with the statements that he made on social media. We don’t expect that from someone who is a captain,” said Chitima.

Chitima said the Green Machine were still in the championship race.

“This is a marathon. We have only lost two games this season and there is nothing amiss in a competition such as our league. You don’t have to win all the games to lift the championship.

“A team can lose 10 games and still go on to win the championship. So we cannot really say our campaign has gone off the rails because of that defeat.

“I also understand the frustration with some of our supporters. It’s painful as the champions losing to a team like Yadah  but what we need in times like these is unity.

“If we start pointing fingers and throwing stones at each other we can only but hurt one another. Let’s show one another love,” said Chitima.

The Green Machine will host Zamalek at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday looking to breathe life into their fading campaign in the Africa safari.

Caps have dropped to the bottom in Group B with three points to their account.

They are four points behind joint leaders USM Alger and Ahli Tripoli with two rounds of matches remaining.

In order to drum up support ahead of their last home match this Sunday, Makepekepe have reduced the gate charges to $3 for the rest of the ground while tickets for VIP and VVIP remained at $20 and $50.

“The costs involved in the international matches are higher but we decided to reduce the gate charges for the rest of the ground because our supporters have been pleading with us and we thought it was only fair for us to listen to them.

“Of course we may have lost some of our matches in the Champions League but right now we are telling our supporters that we haven’t thrown in the towel.

“We are still in the race. If we can win on Sunday and then hope for another positive result in our last match we could still make it. It’s not over yet for us,” said Chitima.

Zamalek have already named their 18-member squad for the Caps United match.

Their Portuguese coach Augusto Inacio has included the trio Ali Gabr, Tarek Hamed and Bassem Morsi who were rested for the midweek league game against Petrojet which they won 2-0.

But Ahmad Refaat and Mahmoud Janesh were ruled out due to injuries while Tariq Hamed misses the match because of suspension.

The White Knights have since sent their advance team comprising the logistics manager and their Head of Delegation.