The Warriors and the Black Mambas were both left under immense pressure after faltering in their opening Group G matches last weekend with Zimbabwe crashing 1-0 at home to Guinea at the National Sports Stadium 48 hours after Mozambique had fallen 2-0 to Egypt in Alexandria.

Those results meant that it is Egypt who top the group with three points, the same tally as second-placed Guinea while pointless Warriors and the Mambas are third and fourth respectively.

Mandigora said although the Warriors just like the Mambas had also put themselves in a difficult position by losing at home last Sunday, he reckoned the tide of the pressure in their showdown with the Mozambicans would be more on the host team.

The Warriors assistant coach, who has seen coaching duty with Mozambican topflight outfit Costa Do Sol, also predicted a tense affair when the Warriors take on the Mambas in a match neither side can afford to drop further points if their World Cup dreams are to continue.

Mandigora said the Warriors would not read much into their opponents’ intense preparations, which had seen the Mambas undertaking a two-week training camp in Germany from where they flew out to Cairo.

“They have a German coach and they went into camp in Germany after which they left for Egypt. The last time I watched them play I noticed that they play a similar 4-4-2 formation with us and that in terms of size we are almost the same, even our game is almost similar but I think our players are much quicker.

“But it should be a tough game for us… they will be under pressure to win since they lost to Egypt and we are also under pressure after the defeat to Guinea.

“I think our level of pressure is a bit better in that we are the away team so the pressure is more on Mozambique who will be playing before their fans so we need to go there and take advantage of the fact that the pressure is on the home team.

“Their stadium is in very good condition and we should not have any problems with the surface,” Mandigora said.

The former Dynamos coach also reckoned that the Warriors could come good if they improve on some of their shortcomings. Coach Rahman Gumbo and Mandigora spent the better part of the afternoon session working on shooting and finishing for the strikers while the rest of the squad worked on ball possession and reaction.

The Warriors created a glut of chances against Guinea but on a day when the striking pair of Knowledge Musona and Takesure Chinyama forgot their shooting boots and led the way in missing opportunities, it meant Gumbo’s men fired blanks against the West Africans.

But the FC Platinum coach revealed that they had spoken to the players and tasked them to shift their focus to the Mozambique assignment.

“I have told the players that they have to put behind them the disappointment of the Guinea game and focus on Mozambique now.

“They can’t continue to keep their heads down because of the defeat… that won’t change last Sunday’s result. They got themselves in the situation they are in and they have to come out of it by going to Maputo and doing well.

“I have even said that those same supporters who were booing them on Sunday will treat them like heroes if they beat Mozambique so we have to focus on getting a result now,” Gumbo said.

The Warriors coach who had 32 players in camp, last night trimmed his squad to 20 with the bulk of the local players being released to return to their clubs ahead of the Premiership action which resumes on Saturday.

Gumbo had called up an enlarged squad in order to use the opportunity of a longer training camp to also work on the local players who will do duty for the Warriors in next month’s Cosafa Senior Men’s Challenge in Malawi.

But there is no doubting that the attention at the moment is on the World Cup campaign and the Warriors know they have to lift their game and appease a nation that was left hugely disappointed last Sunday.

The Mambas, just like the Warriors, have been left wounded following their Day One 2-0 defeat by Egypt in Alexandria last Friday night. Mozambique coach Gert Engels attributed their defeat to early Group G leaders Egypt to mistakes that were made by his defence including a reported howler by veteran Liga Muculmana goalkeeper Joao Rafael Kapango.

Engels, however, made it clear that the Mambas, who until 1994 had not taken the World Cup qualifiers more seriously, would now have to maximise on home advantage against Zimbabwe.

The Mozambican coach’s sentiments have set the tone for Sunday’s clash in which neither side can afford to drop points again if they are to proceed to the final knockout phase of the African Zone qualifiers.

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