Dynamos are not taking premier league newcomers Black Rhinos lightly when they clash at the National Sports Stadium on Thursday evening, according to coach Lloyd Mutasa.
Black Rhinos are on 14 points, two points behind log leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars from seven games while Dynamos are on position 14 with seven points from five games.
“I think us as Dynamos we have come to realise that every game we play is a cup final including the Black Rhinos one.
“And we are happy that we are meeting a Black Rhinos [side] which is full of confidence, which is on top of their game and to our youngsters we are saying we can never go into that match with an element of complacency because we are playing against a team that is on a high. And having them on a high means we are on alert as well,” Mutasa told journalists.
Approaching Black Rhinos, Mutasa said Dynamos’ mental state was not affected by the forced abandonment of their match against Highlanders at Barboufields in Bulawayo stadium on Sunday when the away fans caused mayhem on 42minutes accusing officials of accepting an offside goal.
Mutasa also said he is ready for Chipembere’s physical style of play and they have already gathered a handful of tactics to unleash against an in form third place Rhinos side which has already upset the likes of Chapungu, Bantu Rovers and Chicken Inn.
“I’m sure that is an ace in our sleeve, we cannot be able to divulge much on that one but obviously as a team we are saying the good part is we know their strength and how best we can overcome that strength is what matters most. I’m sure we have been telling the youngsters that they [Black Rhinos] are a team that fights hard, they are a team that is aggressive and I think we have an answer for that.
“As Dynamos, every game that we play we would want to win to maintain the status of the team. You look at the log, you look where we are, you look where Rhinos are, they are above us and the only way we can be above them is to beat them. In order for you to go at the top you have to beat the top teams as well.
Dynamos welcomed midfielder Gift Saunyama back in the squad after having been ruled out for several weeks. They have also been boosted by the return of Quality Kangadze, who had originally been a doubt for the Highlanders clash at the weekend, but passed a late fitness test to appear on the bench.
The former FC Platinum coach said the team would not be affected by their mid evening kick-off insisting the change in condititions would hardly hamper their performance.
“You know here and there obviously the atmosphere will be different from the original set up where we used to train in the morning. We’ll see how it goes in terms of whether we’ll have the opportunity to train in the evening the same time [as the match] so that we may acclimatize, but over and above I’m some of these youngsters have managed to play evening matches be it in national team colours or U23 colours,” he said.
