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Grace Chingoma, Harare Bureau
NGEZI Platinum Stars coach, Tonderai Ndiraya, says he will not throw caution to the wind this afternoon when they host Mauritian side Pamplemousses in a Caf Confederation Cup match at the National Sports Stadium.

The match kicks off at 2pm.

The two teams drew 1-1 in Mauritius a week ago.

“We still have a lot of work to do. We have been preparing for a match tomorrow (today) and what we want to do as a team is to make sure that we qualify to the next round of the tournament,” said Ndiraya.

“We want to be very tight at the back.

“We know we have a result in the bag. We want to make sure that we protect that result at the same time we want to be on the offensive and get a result.

“When I say a result we want a good result and a good result for us would be a win.

“We drew in Mauritius, now we are playing at home and I think we are going to be a little bit more offensive, we are going to open up a bit and at the same time a remain a bit tight at the back.”

The gaffer also respects his opponents.

“We don’t expect them to sit back as such because they want a result. If anything, they want to score so that they have an advantage,” said Ndiraya.

“We have all that in mind and that is the reason we have to protect the result we got from Mauritius, at the same time playing at home we don’t want to be too cautious.

“We are going to make some tactical changes to the team and try as much as possible to push forward and get a result.”

The coach says he has been working on his defence.

The team has been boosted by the recovery of defence pair, vice-skipper Edgar Tapera and Byron Madzokere who missed the first leg nursing groin injuries.

But midfielder Walter Mukanga, who was outstanding last weekend, will miss the tie because of injury.

But Ndiraya is confident that his other midfielders -Xolisani Moyo, Dominic Mukandi and utility skipper Liberty Chakoroma – can deliver for the team.
It has been a fairy-tale for Ngezi after they won the Chibuku Super Cup in their maiden year in the Premiership to secure a ticket to play in Africa.

They have been forced to play home away from home following logistical challenges which saw Caf saying their community didn’t have suitable accomodation for the visitors.

“We want to enjoy ourselves in the tournament but in enjoying we also saying we want to win and go as far as we can in the tournament.

“Our focus is to reach the group stage of the tournament.

“We have said to ourselves that if we manage that feat it means we have made some history,” said Ndiraya.