John Lanjesi spoke to club media ahead of our midweek fixture against Ndirande Stars in the FDH Bank Cup.
The People’s Team will host the second-tier side in the round-of-32 of the national cup at Kamuzu Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Our first-team captain concurred with head coach Kalisto Pasuwa, who earlier told us that Bullets need to approach the tie with a positive attitude as the lads aim to triumph as they look to defend the trophy after winning it last season.
“Playing non-league teams is tricky, but our preparations for every game are always the same. We do not lower the standards because we are underrating a team or anything,” said Lanjesi on Tuesday. “For Ndirande Stars to reach this far means they’re a good team and smaller teams can surprise you if you are not careful.”
The skipper expects Maule to come out in large numbers and give all the support to the defending champions as they will be hunting for a place in the last-16.
Bullets will be going into the cup match from a 3-2 loss against Silver Strikers at the Bingu National Stadium last Saturday in the Castel Challenge Cup ceremonial match, which mainly featured fringe players.
Our no.5 believes the loss positively helped The People’s Team in preparation for the midweek fixture, our tenth competitive match this campaign, having already fulfilled nine TNM Super League fixtures.
“Indeed, we are coming from a loss, but it made us realize our fitness levels and how the first XI will come about. The mistakes that we did in the previous match have been corrected, hopefully, we will deliver what’s expected of us [in the next fixtures]”.
Wednesday’s fixture will be the second time in three straight years for Bullets to start the FDH Bank Cup campaign with a lower league side, having fought hard to defeat Bullets Reserves on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time in 2021.
The People’s Team opened the 2022 title-winning campaign with a 3-1 victory over TNM Super League relegated side, Sable Farming, away in Mulanje.
