National team manager Wellington Mpandare is hoping to have a full-strength squad for the back-to-back fixtures against DRC in the 2018 AFCON Qualifiers.

The Warriors will travel to Kinshasa on October 13 before hosting the Congolese at the National Sports Stadium in Harare three days later.

Defender Costa Nhamoinesu and Marvelous Nakamba have both recovered from injuries which ruled them out of the Congo clash two weeks ago while Khama Billiat has also regained his fitness. Captain Knowledge Musona returned to the first XI on Thursday in Anderlecht’s Europa League encounter.

In an interview with The Herald, Mpandare is happy to see Musona getting some game time at his club ahead of the DRC fixtures.

“It means a lot to the national team considering that when we played against Congo in Brazzaville, our captain was missing game time.

“Yes, Anderlecht might have lost but it also matters a lot for us that Knowledge is now getting game time.

“Costa (Nhamoinesu), who was also injured, is back and played on Monday and they won away. Khama (Billiat) is also back to full fitness and has been scoring and enjoying good form at Kaizer Chiefs.

“We pray that we have a full squad when we go to DRC as we really need to win those encounters,” he added.