Ahead of our Castel Challenge Cup Round of 32 tie against Changalume Barracks at Mpira Stadium midweek, first assistant coach Michael Ngore spoke to the media on Tuesday.
He talked about the impact of the international break, team news, the motivation amongst the players, and how the team is coping with the congested fixtures.
Below is the full transcript of Ngore’s media briefing.
On facing Changalume after winning the Airtel Top 8 and the International Break
I wouldn’t cry much about the break. In as much as we would want to continue, as you know you want to ride on the momentum, but if you don’t get the chance to ride on the momentum, you go back to recharge the batteries, you come back again and we hope we are coming back stronger because winning the Airtel Top 8 cup made us a little bit hungry again for success. The more you win, the more you want to continue winning.
On facing a struggling lower league side
As usual, we are expecting a tough game. As Bullets, we know we will never play any simple or easier game as people might put it. Our culture as Bullets has been to respect our opponents as much as we respect ourselves. As long as they are two-legged, they have been given uniforms, a starting place, or even starting on the bench, but coming in, we respect them. They have something to offer, and that’s why they are in the field of play.
On injuries and suspensions
So far, it’s only Chrispin Mapemba [who is still recovering] and Collin Mujuru, who is sick with flu. Apart from those two, we have a clean bill of health, subtracting the players who were with the national team, everyone else is there ready to be selected.
On how players are preparing for the midweek fixture
Like I said before, having won this other cup has made them hungrier to win the other one. Now they know the feeling of winning [again], and you know we have been telling them that success is perishable. You win today, you forget about it. Tomorrow, you also want to win, and that one will never change, the feeling of winning. So, when you look at their body language, you can see the guys are geared to go. They want it.
On Bullets’ 12-game unbeaten run
It has always been like this. It’s only a matter of time and you know, I find it difficult to comment, especially on those things where people think we haven’t been doing well; instead of giving credit to these other teams for stepping up their game, we want to look at ourselves and say we are a team that is supposed to be winning every game. That’s not possible in football. These 12 games have been a testimony of saying you can have a bad time and good times.
On meeting Changalume 72 hours before facing Silver Strikers
At Bullets, we have one motto; we take it as it comes. One game at a time. We are not looking at the Silver Strikers game. Remember, these are two different competitions, so the moment we start looking at Silver Strikers before Changalume, that means we will have divided attention and having divided attention would be costly because you may end up losing both. So, we look at each game as it comes.
On Bullets’ preparedness for the congested fixtures
Ready or not, the truth is that those games will be played, so as professionals, that’s our job. We have to play; we will balance it, and we will play. We can’t cry over that because it’s a thing that we have gotten used to. It has been like that in previous seasons and this season again, so it’s nothing new. Remember, we had a situation where we used to play on Saturday, Wednesday, and Saturday again during the CAF Champions League period. So, it’s not something new. We are used to it, and we will give it our best.
