By NDINAWE SIMPELWE –
GREEN Buffaloes coach Bilton Musonda says he has a point to prove to his mentor, George Lwandamina that he has developed into a good coach.
Lwandamina coached Zesco United host Buffaloes today at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in an MTN /FAZ Super League rescheduled Week 14 match aiming to reduce the gap on log leaders Zanaco to six points.
“As a student you have to prove to your teacher that you learnt and the best way is to beat him. Our aim is to end the first half of the season on fourth position because in the second half we want to aim at winning the title or at least second position because its long since Buffaloes played continental football,” Musonda said.
Zesco occupies second position with 31 points but have three games in hand while Buffaloes are fifth with 28 points from 16 matches.
The Lwandamina tutored side had four games in hand and started the clearance of the backlog with a hard fought 2-0 win against Red Arrows last Wednesday.
However, today they face a much tougher opponent who will be aiming to catch up on both Zesco and third placed Nkana on 31 points.
With the Zambian champions taking part in the CAF Champions’ League, questions were raised on Wednesday if the players were getting fatigued looking at how they laboured to beat Arrows.
But Lwandamina said midweek games are always difficult and that Arrows had the endurance to last the whole game.
Except if Zesco feels Arrows gave them a good run for their money, they should expect worse today as Buffaloes have shown this season that they mean business.
Musonda declared his side ready and geared for a fight and was happy to finally have a full squad intact for a league match as he had played most part of the season without some key players due to national duty.
“We have come prepared. It is always tough to face the defending champions. But at least we have a full squad. Everyone is back from the national team so we are ready and the players are determined to get a win,” Musonda said.
Buffaloes defence led by Buchizya Mfune will have to be wary of the attacking threat that comes with league leading scorer Jesse Were and Jackson who has found the back of the net 11 times.
Christopher Katongo will lead Buffaloes from the midfield where he will battle it out with Anthony Akumu and Clatous Chama.
The match will also be important for Zesco as they prepare for the Champions’ league tie against ASEC Mimosas on July 16.
Meanwhile, Zesco captain Jacob Banda has been cleared fit to resume playing for his club by the Ndola Central Hospital cardiac department in the latest ECG test conducted.
According to a Zesco statement, team doctor Stephen Mbewe said Banda will be incorporated in the team’s training programme next week.
He said the medical report stated that no cardio abnormalities had been detected in the player.
“The last report shows that Jacob who had been out for less than the prescribed two months is able to start training with the rest of the team. The diagnosis stated that he had a clot near the heart cavity that was causing him to be fatigued constantly,” the statement read.