Nomads eye seeded slot
Mighty Wanderers are out on a mission to secure full points in the TNM Super League match against Civil Service United at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe and earn a seeded slot in the FDH Bank Cup.
Seeded slots in the newly introduced cup are a preserve of teams to finish the first round of the Super League in the top eight.
This means Wanderers are in danger of missing out on being part of seeded teams for the competition as they are stuck on ninth position with 19 points from 14 matches.
The Nomads will therefore need to beat the Civil Servants to avoid meeting strong sides in the cup’s round-of-32.
The teams that are currently sitting in the top eight of the elite league are Silver Strikers, Nyasa Big Bullets, Civil, Moyale, Ekwendeni Hammers, Mafco, Karonga United and Red Lions.
However, Wanderers’ fate is not entirely in their hands as they will be hoping that TN Stars should do them a favour by beating or drawing with Lions at Chiwembe Stadium in Blantyre this afternoon.
Lions have 20 points and a win would put them out of Wanderers’ reach. The Lali Lubani Road side can only go up to 22 points if it wins against Civil while Lions will cruise to 23 points with victory over TN Stars.
Wanderers Coach Bob Mpinganjira said they looked forward to collecting full points in Lilongwe.
“We are on a mission to collect full points in Lilongwe but we are also mindful of the fact that beating Civil would not be an easy task. We also want to be among the seeded teams in the FDH Bank Cup. A win will also help us improve our standings on the log table,” Mpinganjira said.
He said their goal was to excel in both league and cup matches and make their supporters happy.
“League and cup matches are somehow different. League matches are more demanding than cup games. To be seeded for a cup competition is very important as you are assured that you will meet a weaker opponent.
“However, cup competitions are unpredictable as you might be knocked out in your first assignment. We are not doing well in the league and we need to pull up our socks. We must start winning league matches so that we move up the table,” Mpinganjira said.
Civil Team Manager Gabriel Chirwa said the match against Wanderers was a must-win.
“Our ultimate goal is to dislodge Nyasa Big Bullets from second position. We have failed to finish on top of the table in the first round and the best we can do for now is to finish second. We know that Wanderers are a big side and play good football but we have a way of stopping them,” Chirwa said.
Wanderers will be hoping to return to winning ways after two consecutive draws against Bullets and Lions.
The cup competition will start with regional matches whose draw will take place next week after conclusion of first-round Super League games this weekend.
