Nyasa Big Bullets will target a return to winning ways in the TNM Super League when they take on Moyale Barracks in a midweek fixture at Mzuzu Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
The People’s Team go into the match 96 hours after dropping two points away to Karonga United following a goalless draw at Karonga Stadium on Saturday.
The stalemate saw Kalisto Pasuwa’s men missing on an opportunity to dislodge early pacesetters Blue Eagles, who are now five points clear ahead of the defending champions.
Bullets’ mission to get three points in midweek will not be an easy one as their opponents are under tremendous pressure having lost four out of the six games played in the 2022 campaign.
“It is another tough one because Moyale Barracks have not been doing well of late. It is always tough when you are playing against teams that are struggling because they have nothing to lose,” Pasuwa told club media ahead of the match.
“And if you can see in this league a team an average side when playing against another team, but the moment they play Bullets it will be topnotch and they will be putting everything in place,” added the Bullets head coach.
In the previous season, Pasuwa’s side was beaten 1-0 at the very same venue, but the Zimbabwean tactician believes his team has all the opportunity to claim maximum points if chances are converted into goals.
“It’s a game of chances where we need to take all of them into goals. If we create any chance, we mustn’t waste it so that we take all the points.”
On preparations, Pasuwa said he has worked on recovery since his players did not have enough time to rest after covering about 800 kilometers from Blantyre to Karonga to fulfil Saturday’s fixture, before driving for another 200 plus kilometers to Mzuzu to face Moyale.
“We are mostly working on recovery after playing a high intensity game on Saturday against Karonga. It was a game in which we missed a lot of chances and at this stage we have been recovering and working on our shortfalls so that by the end of our next match we collect maximum points.”
Pasuwa has been talking to his players, especially the youngsters who he promoted from Bullets Reserves to be mentally strong, saying “it’s not easy to play for Bullets because teams will come hard on us”.
“We have been trying to knock sense into the youngsters who are coming in to say it’s not easy to play for Bullets. They have to be mentally strong and I am very happy that it is coming up because they are able to collect points and what is remaining is to start scoring goals from the opportunities we are creating.
“We talk to them, we show them videos of previous games that we have played as we work on the mental aspect of it. It’s always tough in each and every game we play, but we have senior players who are around to be telling them that all is not lost until the final whistle,” explained the coach.
A win for Bullets will cut the gap behind Blue Eagles to two points ahead of another fixture on Sunday against Rumphi United at Kamuzu Stadium.
