Kalisto Pasuwa says FCB Nyasa Big Bullets should be a step ahead in everything as we face Balaka FC in the FDH Bank Cup round-of-16 away in Balaka on Sunday.
The head coach believes playing a non-league side in a cup competition can be tricky therefore Bullets need to quickly adjust to playing a knockout match.
Pasuwa and his men will travel to Balaka Stadium for a third time since the 2022 season, where we won against Red Lions and Dedza Dynamos in the TNM Super League.
The gaffer anticipates a highly charged opposition on Sunday and has been talking to his players to up their game.
“A very good but challenging game we are anticipating against Balaka,” Pasuwa told club media ahead of the tie. “My worry is the failure of my players to adjust to these knockout games. As you know it’s one game [that] if we win, we are safe and sound, but if we lose, we are out.
“And considering that we are playing a side that we have no idea of, but [they should be] very energetic with youngsters, we need to be a step ahead of them in everything. We need to deal with aerial threats after we got exposed last week against Dedza Dynamos. We have been addressing it and think we are okay and looking forward to playing them with better performance.”
Pasuwa’s Bullets, known for keeping possession and playing comfortably, especially at home, have been struggling to play their usual game and recently, Dedza made them run for their money when they survived a defeat to draw 2-2 in the league last Saturday, which the head coach attributed to his players’ failure to adjust to the pressure of playing in different competitions.
“The problem we are facing right now is our inability to adjust to playing in different competitions at once. We played Yanga [in a friendly match on Independence Day] where we had a system that we used, dropping and attacking through spaces. It worked for us and you could see that the players were okay with it. We then played in the league matches and that’s where we encountered problems because you could see the players losing confidence. The buildup we saw against Yanga was nowhere to be seen in these local games.
“Maybe we can attribute this to the injuries that we are having at the moment because when having a team, you need to have a spine and if u can look at our team, the spine was either injured or with the national team, so we had a whole changed side that was playing and we were failing to adjust to the situation at hand hence struggling. But we are working on this and we will come out good, it’s just a matter of time,” explained Pasuwa.
Pasuwa, who is eyeing his second FDH Bank Cup this campaign, was excited to welcome back the four players who were with the senior Malawi National Team at the just-ended COSAFA Cup in South Africa.
“It’s a massive boost to have the four players who were with the national team back because they are fit and it’s an added advantage to have them back,” he expressed.
The head coach also provided early team news ahead of the trip to Balaka as he revealed that we will continue without Clyde Senaji, Stanley Billiat, Ernest Petro and Mike Mkwate.
He said: “Senaji and Billiat are likely to be fully back next week as you know they have been absent for too long and now they are working on their fitness levels whilst Petro is still out.”
