Zimpapers Logo

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

RAY Lunga has been ruled out of Highlanders’ Castle Lager Premier Soccer League trip to Ngezi Platinum Stars after sustaining an ankle injury at training on Wednesday.

The midfielder, who has been a ray of hope for Bosso, failed a fitness test yesterday, with club doctor Sheppard Khumalo saying he will be available for next week’s assignment against defending champions, FC Platinum.

Mandla Mpofu, who has been elevated to Bosso head coach after the departure of Madinda Ndlovu, bemoaned the unavailability of Lunga as well as suspended striker Prince Dube, but is confident of a good outing.

Mpofu is aware that all eyes will be on him, as he takes charge of the crestfallen Bulawayo giants.

“Obviously the unavailability of Ray and Prince is a blow for us, but we have to soldier on. We wish Ray a speedy recovery as well as other injured players (McClive Phiri and Bukhosi Ncube). We are also without the services of Zambian striker, Peter Nyirenda, who pulled a muscle on Wednesday,” said Mpofu.

“These injuries are not an excuse for failure and we are going there to fight for points. We agreed during our discussions with the players not to lose to teams we lost to last season and they do not want to lose to Ngezi, a side that collected six points from us.”

Mpofu, who harbours personal ambition of leading Bosso to a top four finish, believes his charges are capable of getting positive results in the remaining 22 games.

Bosso are two points above relegation with 14 points from 12 games, and are 13th on the league table. They are eight points behind Black Rhinos, who occupy fourth place, and trail log leaders FC Platinum by 10 points.

“You will realise there is only a 10-point gap between us and the log leaders, which is three-and-half games, but we have 22 games to play, which means there is room for us to turn around our poor start.

“I believe a top four finish is a more realistic target considering where we are. I think we are going to perform better than last year. We have a great squad; the composition of the team makes me believe we can make it. I don’t have any doubt that we have got a great team that can win games and see us at the top,” Mpofu said.

Castle Lager PSL MatchDay 13 fixtures

Tomorrow: Chicken Inn v Mushowani Stars (Luveve), Herentals v Triangle United (National Sports Stadium), ZPC Kariba v Caps United (Nyamhunga), Yadah v Black Rhinos (Rufaro), Ngezi Platinum Stars v Highlanders (Baobab), FC Platinum v Manica Diamonds (Mandava)

Sunday: Hwange v Bulawayo Chiefs (Colliery), TelOne v Harare City (Luveve), Dynamos v Chapungu (Rufaro)

Table 

  P W D L F A GD Pts

FC Platinum 12 7 3 2 15 5 10 24

Chicken Inn 12 7 2 3 19 7 12 23

Caps United 12 7 2 3 23 15 8 23

Black Rhinos 12 6 4 2 14 10 4 22

Chapungu 12 5 4 3 15 11 4 19

ZPC Kariba 12 5 3 4 8 10 -2 18

Manica Diamonds 12 4 5 3 12 10 2 17

Ngezi Platinum 12 4 5 3 10 9 1 17

Harare City 12 5 1 6 15 15 0 16

Herentals 12 3 6 3 9 8 1 15

Triangle United 12 4 3 5 14 15 -1 15

Dynamos 12 4 3 5 7 9 -2 15

Highlanders 12 3 5 4 6 9 -3 14

Hwange 12 4 2 6 9 15 -6 14

TelOne 12 2 6 4 8 11 -3 12

Yadah 12 3 3 6 9 16 -7 12

Mushowani 12 2 3 7 12 17 -5 9

Bulawayo Chiefs 12 2 2 8 10 23 -13 8

— @ZililoR