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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
WHILE collecting maximum points will be the ultimate goal, Bosso will go into tomorrow’s encounter against Bulawayo Chiefs with a cautious approach to avoid further injuries in their camp.

Highlanders are set to face city rivals Bulawayo Chiefs in a Chibuku Super Cup tie without the services of injured Adrian Silla, Devine Mhindirira and Muziwakhe Dlamini through injury.

Silla sustained a groin injury while the duo of Mhindirira and Dlamini are recovering from hamstring injuries.
Coach Mandla Mpofu admits his players are not fully fit and could be prone to injury following the lengthy break.

“We are not at 100 percent, but come Thursday we will have to avoid injuries and ensure that we come out tops. We have another game on Sunday, so, we need to manage our game and avoid injuries as we go into Sunday,” said Mpofu.

Bosso kicked off their Chibuku Super Cup heavily crippled, with five new signings ruled out as they had not received international transfer clearances.

However, the five new signings are ready for selection and are in contention to make the match day squad.
Joel Ngodzo, Keith Mavunga, Winston Mhango, who were in Zambia, Peter Muduhwa, who was on loan to Simba Sports Club of Tanzania as well as Lynoth Chikuhwa, who was in Botswana, are the five players expected to feature this weekend.

Mpofu hopes his side will retain the Chibuku Super Cup, which they won in 2019 after edging Ngezi Platinum Stars 1-0.

“We are obviously a motivated lot. We recently got a big sponsorship boost and we really want to defend this cup. After that massive sponsorship injection, the boys know that they will now consistently get their dues, which means we are in exciting times. That on its own should motivate us to go all the way to the final,” said Mpofu.

Chicken Inn and Bulawayo City clash in the other match.

The tournament returns soon after Highlanders and Dynamos received a shot in the arm with a three-year US$5.3 million sponsorship deal from Sakunda Holdings.

Meanwhile, Bosso captain Ariel Sibanda and vice-captain Nqobizitha Masuku have said they remain loyal to the Bosso cause despite reports that they wanted to leave the club.

The two were reported to be on their way out of the club, as Bosso were struggling to pay players’ salaries for about three months.

The players staged a sit-in in a bid to force management to pay them their dues, and the timely intervention of Sakunda Holdings has restored some sanity in the Bosso camp.

Sibanda received a brand-new car from Sakunda Holdings as part of the sponsorship deal.

Sibanda distanced himself from a Facebook post on his timeline that announced his departure from Bosso, saying his Facebook account was hacked.

“When my account was hacked, l quickly got in touch with the club. As you know l never officially wrote to the club announcing my departure. So, when l realised my account had been hacked, l got in touch with the club and we handled the matter internally,” said Sibanda without elaborating.

Masuku, however, admitted writing to the club expressing his desire to leave.

“I would say you know the difficult circumstances that we were facing at that time. So, it’s true l wrote to the club wanting to leave, but it was an internal issue which has now been sorted. There is no friction in camp because of that move. We take it in a professional manner. Now that we have sponsorship from Utande and Sakunda, it’s football as usual. We are focusing on the next match,” said Masuku.

They said the team was training hard and is ready for the clash against Bulawayo Chiefs tomorrow. — @innocentskizoe