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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter

CHICKEN Inn coach Joey Antipas has backed his side to bounce back to winning ways when they square up against unpredictable Bulawayo Chiefs in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Luveve Stadium today.

The Gamecocks are in the running to win their second championship title this season, but suffered a setback when they let a one-goal lead slip to fall 2-1 to Hwange last week.

The defeat was Chicken Inn’s fourth of the season and left them with 26 points from 14 games and just two points behind log leaders FC Platinum.Antipas will have to dig deep into his bag of tricks to find a way of thwarting Bulawayo Chiefs, who are fresh from a 1-0 win over Mushowani Stars last weekend.

The rare victory was Bulawayo Chiefs’ first at home and they will be hoping to build on it in a bid to survive the chop. Chiefs are wallowing deep in the relegation zone with 11 points from 14 games.

“The boys are working hard in training and showing a positive attitude. We have a full squad to choose from and that is great. We are coming from a negative result against Hwange, but we have moved from that and all the focus is on the game on Saturday (tomorrow) where we have to make sure that we bounce back to winning ways,” said Antipas.

Chiefs earned themselves the giant killers’ tag with their great exploits against top clubs last season and will be no pushovers in this local derby.

Both sides don’t enjoy an impressive record at Luveve Stadium this season. Chicken Inn have won twice, drawn three times and lost two games at the venue, while Chiefs have lost five games and drawn once.

Chicken Inn forward Clive Augusto, who leads the league’s goal scoring charts with 13 goals from 14 games, will pose the main threat to Bulawayo Chiefs and their defence has to be at its best to stop the red-hot forward, who retained the Castle Lager PSL Player of the Month award for June to make it three in a row.

Bulawayo Chiefs will be banking on experienced new goalkeeper Liberty Chirava as well as the likes of Arthur Masiyiwa and Farawo Matare to land Chicken Inn a heavy blow.

Fixtures

Today: Chicken Inn vs Bulawayo Chiefs (Luveve), Herentals vs Hwange (National Sports Stadium), ZPC Kariba vs Triangle (Nyamhunga), Yadah vs Harare City (Rufaro), Ngezi Platinum Stars vs Black Rhinos (Baobab), FC Platinum vs Chapungu (Mandava)
Tomorrow: Manica Diamonds vs Highlanders (Vengere), Dynamos vs Caps United (Rufaro), TelOne vs Mushowani Stars (Luveve)

Table
P W D L F A G Pts
Platinum 14 8 4 2 17 6 +11 28
Chicken Inn 14 8 2 4 23 9 +14 26
CAPS United 14 8 2 4 25 16 +9 26
Black Rhino 14 6 6 2 15 12 +3 24
ZPC Kariba 14 6 4 4 9 10 -1 22
Triangle 14 6 3 5 18 16 +2 21
Chapungu 14 5 5 4 15 12 +3 20
Hwange 14 6 2 6 12 16 -4 20
Ngezi 14 4 7 3 11 10 +1 19
Dynamos 14 5 4 5 9 10 -1 19
Harare City 14 5 3 6 16 16 +0 18
Manica 14 4 5 5 12 12 +0 17
Herentals 14 3 7 4 10 11 -1 16
Highlanders 14 3 7 4 8 11 -3 16
TelOne 14 2 7 5 10 14 -4 13
Yadah 14 3 4 7 10 19 -9 13
Byo Chiefs 14 3 2 9 11 24 -13 11
Mushowani 14 2 4 8 14 21 -7 10
— @innocentskizoe