Power Dynamos coach Osward Mutapa has defended his squad following their elimination from the CAF Champions League, insisting the defending Super League champions remain the best team in Zambia.
Power were knocked out of the competition after losing to Al Merrikh of Sudan in the first preliminary round, raising questions over their attacking options after struggling to convert chances.
But Mutapa believes the team’s failure to score consistently should not be interpreted as a lack of quality in his squad.
“Is it going to affect us? No. We have strikers there. Maybe they might not score the 21 goals [like Moses Shumah], but they will definitely score. This is Power Dynamos,” Mutapa said.
He said Power faced similar concerns at the start of last season but went on to finish as the league’s highest-scoring team.
“Even in the previous league when we started, it was the same. People were crying that we were not scoring goals, but there we were, we were the highest-scoring team in the league,” he said.
Mutapa said his main concern was that the team continued creating chances, believing the goals would eventually come.
“So when we are creating chances, we are happy because we know when we get it right, we are scoring,” he said.
Mutapa challenges his players
The coach admitted that Power had fallen short of their target in the Champions League but urged his players to use the disappointment as motivation rather than allowing it to derail their domestic campaign.
“We’ve failed ourselves. We needed to build from where we left, but this is football. We are out. Are we going to start crying? No. We have to reflect,” Mutapa said.
He challenged his players to demonstrate the mentality of champions by responding strongly to the setback.
“A championship-winning team is seen when they are down and we are out. How are we going to react to being out? Are we going to show the anger of going out of the Champions League to bring it to the league? I still believe we are the best team,” he said.
Mutapa also dismissed suggestions that Power needed major reinforcements, saying the club already had sufficient quality in its squad.
“We have a very good squad. We don’t need any reinforcement. Yes, we have two strikers. We are adding a third one just to be comfortable with the human resource that we have,” he said.
