By SHAMAOMA  MUSONDA –

THE Zambia Under-17 soccer squad this evening goes into battle with Botswana in Gaborone with one clear mission – making it to the third round of qualifiers for the Niger 2015 Africa Under-17 Championship.

Zambia is not just carrying a slender 1-0 lead from the Lusaka encounter a fortnight ago but this Chris Kaunda side also has a string of injuries that has ruled key players out of this game.

While four players were announced to be unfit for the game, Kaunda has taken with him top striker Patson Daka to the clash set for the University of Botswana Stadium.

Kaunda has however remained undaunted by injuries, saying what will be important will be to qualify to the next round of the competition where either Uganda or Rwanda will be waiting.

Uganda lead Rwanda 4-0 from the first leg.

Kaunda said the team was motivated to finish off the work they started from the first leg at Sunset Stadium win Lusaka.

In the first leg, Zambia created several scoring chances but only made one to count despite Botswana goalkeeper Thomas Manyelela looking less than convincing.

So this return leg to be played under floodlights presents the Kaunda-tutored side a chance to prove themselves on the big stage and the coach says the change in environment will not affect the team as they had been exposed to the floodlights before.

“We trained twice at OYDC in Lusaka under floodlights and when we were in Italy last year, we played in the same environment and we actually beat Italy 3-1, so it will be one situation we know too well,” he said.

To get the result needed, it remains to be seen if Kaunda will stick to Daka upfront despite his failure to tick in the first leg in Lusaka but his partner Pumulo Simwinga is a sure starter and hope to be more fruitful.

In goal, Daniel Sikanyika will get his place back with cover from Salati Lungu and Prosper Chilufya but it is the midfield that was most outstanding in the first leg where Kalale Changwe was the star and should be the man to run the show again.

With so much at stake, which include the Africa Under-17 Championship where the continent’s representatives to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup will be picked, the Zambian team just has to keep flame burning and make the next stage.

All this team needs to do is avoid a loss in Botswana to progress to the next round of qualifiers.