Green Eagles’ struggles continued on Thursday afternoon as their winless run stretched to 10 games following a 1-1 draw against defending champions Red Arrows at Independence Stadium in Choma.
Despite securing a point, coach Kebby Hachipuka described the result as painful, with his side still searching for a victory since December 21 last year.
“I think it’s a painful draw in that we were playing at home, but according to the performance that the guys have shown, I think it was a good performance for me despite drawing,” Hachipuka said.
Eagles remain 12th on the log with 33 points, just two points above the relegation zone, with six games left to play. Hachipuka, however, remains confident his side will turn things around, even though defensive frailties continue to cost them.
“We still have six games, which is 18 points. We will pull through. The major problem is that we are conceding in every game, so we need to work on the defenders,” he added.
‘We can’t be relegated’ —Hachipuka
Despite their precarious position, Hachipuka dismissed any fears of relegation, insisting that Green Eagles are too big a club to go down.
“No, we can’t. Green Eagles is a big team. It’s only that we are passing through a bad patch, but in the last six games, we will do better,” he said confidently.
Simon Mulenga’s second-half strike salvaged a point for Eagles after Ackim Mumba had given Red Arrows the lead in the first half. Encouragingly for Hachipuka, his side has now scored in their last four games, something he believes they can build on.
“I understand we have not been winning, and we have been lacking goals, but now we have started scoring. This means we need to tighten our defense because in the past four games, despite losing, we have been managing to score first. That means we are not doing well defensively.”
With six games to go, Eagles will need to find solutions fast if they are to avoid being dragged into the relegation battle.
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