‘We Need A Win’ – Ndiraya

Ngezi Platinum coach, Tonderai Ndiraya, has said the team is aiming for a win when they face Pamplemousse in the second leg preliminary round of the CAF Confederations Cup in Harare on Saturday.

Ngezi Platinum drew 1-1 away last weekend and are looking to finish the business at home when they host the Mauritians at the National Sports Stadium.

Speaking to journalists at a press conference at Meikles Hotel in Harare this afternoon, Ndiraya said the 2016 premier league runners up are looking to progress to the next round.

“I can’t really say half the job has been done. We have work to do, we have been preparing for a match tomorrow and what we want to do as a team is to make sure we qualify for the next round of the tournament.

“Our preparations have been going on quite well [but] we were very disappointed and not happy with the way we played in Mauritius, especially defensively. Our defence was quite shaky and with a bit of luck, our hosts could have snatched a result, but that was not to be. We had to talk to the boys and re-organise the defence and in the second half I think we had a better performance.

“We have been preparing with that in mind, we want to be very tight at the back. We know we have a result at the back and we know we want to protect the result but at the same time, we want to be offensive and get a result. When I say a result I mean a good result [and] a good result for us would be a win,” Ndiraya said.

Ndiraya also said that his side will be looking for a winning formula against a determined Pamplemousse and hopes to score goals amid host of other tactical changes.

“Before we played the game in Mauritius, we didn’t know our opponents, quite honestly. We got to know how they play when we played them. And we have discovered that they are quite a determined lot, they have a lot of energy and they play long balls which really troubled our defence in Mauritius.

“We expect them to come back playing the same way, because that gave them some hope because they got some few opportunities to score, so naturally, you expect a team to play the same way.

“We don’t expect them to sit back as such, because they want a result. If anything, they want to score. So that perhaps they have an advantage and that perhaps if the worse comes to the worst they’ll get a draw, or perhaps [even] force the game to go to the penalty shootout,” he said.

The former Dynamos coach said that the team will be without midfielder, Walter Mukanga, in the reverse fixture due to an ankle injury, while he announced the return of two defenders who missed the first leg.

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