Nyasa Big Bullets are up north for two TNM Super League fixtures against Moyale Barracks and Mzuzu Warriors at Mzuzu Stadium in Matchweek 26.
Bullets will face Moyale tomorrow afternoon before taking on Mzuzu Warriors 24 hours later.
These two away back-to-back fixtures come after The People’s Team suffered a 4-2 penalty shootout loss against Silver Strikers in the FDH Bank Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.
The defeat at Area 47 leaves Kalisto Pasuwa’s men with only the Super League silverware to fight for this season in pursuit for a 16th title.
Bullets top the standings with 48 points from 22 games, two points above Silver Strikers who have played 24 games, and collecting all six points at the hands of Moyale and the Warriors will see the defending champions opening an eight point gap against the Central Bankers.
In the first round of the current campaign, Bullets won 5-1 over Moyale and 3-0 over Mzuzu Warriors at Kamuzu Stadium and will be hoping to collect full points against the two sides that always provide tough opposition at the Mzuzu Stadium.
TEAM NEWS
New signing Anthony Mfune who was announced three weeks ago after completing a move from Karonga United is now available for selection following his clearance by the Super League of Malawi to don the red and white colours in the domestic league after he was given some minutes in the CECAFA Kagame Cup.
Unlike Babatunde Adepoju, who joined Bullets from Mighty Wanderers on July 1, after the transfer window had already been closed and is ineligible to feature for The People’s Team in domestic competitions, Mfune is eligible.
The winger’s contract with Karonga United expired on December 30, 2020, prior to the end of the registration period in the current season, on May 30, and joined Pasuwa’s squad as an out-of-contract player.
Chiukepo Msowoya is yet to rejoin the squad after he had traveled from Tanzania to Karonga to mourn his departed mother, who passed on the day before Bullets face Express in the CECAFA Kagame Cup final seven days ago.
Pasuwa is not worried about injuries despite a number of players picking up knocks in during the midweek cup fixture at Silver. The head coach had this to say in an interview with club media on Thursday:
“We have got several knocks in camp. You could see in the dying minutes of Wednesday’s defeat that most of our guys were struggling and some of them falling, but we won’t have any excuse because we are trying to manage them. We are very grateful to management for allowing us to travel with more players to fill in the gaps of those that are injured and we are good to go.”
MORE FROM THE COACH’S BRIEFING
The head coach also tackled on the approach to the upcoming games coming from a loss.
“Our approach has always been the same, positive mind to always collect points. We don’t have a game where we say this one is FDH [Cup] or this one is Super League. Our approach is the same, let’s go out there and win the game to take the three points.
“We are ready [to face Moyale and Mzuzu Warriors] and we hope each and every one is also ready for the games. We have tried to psych up the boys so that they can come out good,” added the Zimbabwean.
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
“Most of these teams struggle when they play away, but the moment they are playing at home they look a different team with a different approach. As Bullets we know what we expect from them at their own backyard, so we need to be in the right sense of mind and prepare where we think we haven’t been doing well.
“In the FDH Cup [against Silver Strikers] we conceded goals because of lack of concentration, but we have talked sense in the boys to rectify those mistakes in order for us to bounce back and come up with a win.”
