WINDHOEK – MTC Premiership giant killers Tura Magic return to action tonight after four rounds of matches that saw Timo Tjongarero’s young brigade amass a commendable 9 points from a possible 12.
Statistics show that the victories were recorded against poor opponents in the shape of league returnees Mighty Gunners, Touch & Go and Benfica, but tonight’s clash against old nemesis African Stars will be a different kettle of fish. Nevertheless, coach Tjongarero is upbeat and believes his youthful squad has what it takes to fashion out a decent result against their more fancied opponents. “It’s still early. The league is a marathon, but we are slowly getting our act together.
“The most important aspect is that we managed to hold onto our key playing personnel with the exception of midfielder Mugson Mohammed who returned to his native Ghana at the end of last season.”
The former Stars midfielder added that they have beefed up the squad with a number of promising youngsters from the club’s academy. “In all honesty, we have assembled a good squad and just need to maintain our playing structure and stick to our plan and the rest will fall into place,” said a confident Tjongarero.
The Reds are unbeaten in their opening three matches but the team’s defensive frailties were badly exposed when they dropped two valuable points against lowly Mighty Gunners but Reds mentor Woody Jacobs is not reading too much into that.
“Matches between us and Tura Magic are becoming too intensive, kind of mini derbies but we are ready for the battle. We expect a tough match because our opponents have improved in leaps and bounds over the last term and cannot be taken lightly.”
The Reds will be minus the services of enterprising injury prone speedy winger Lovers Kamuhanga, who limped off the training field with a hamstring injury while goofy-tooth Zimbabwean midfielder Milton Chapo, remains a serious doubt after he sustained injury in the team’s victory against Benfica.
“Our objective is to collect the three points at stake, the players are very aware of our ultimate goal. We are a massive club and expectations are always high to deliver the goods in each and every match we compete, so we must remain focused and do the business on the field of play,” Jacobs said.