'Kaindu was right in going to the UK,' says Masomere

AS the debate on the absence of Highlanders coach Kelvin Kaindu continues, his counterpart at Shabanie Mine Luke Masomere believes the former Zambian international was right in going to the United Kingdom.

Bosso meet Shabanie Mine in the last Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match of the season with Kaindu, who is still holed up in the UK for his UEFA B licence badges.

He has already missed two matches - the 1-1 draw against Motor Action two weeks ago and the 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Harare City last Sunday.

Bosso's chances of landing their first title since 2006 no longer lie in their hands and now depend now depend on ifs, buts and maybes.

But Masomere has thrown his weight behind Kaindu saying: "Personally, I wouldn't have left the club at such a crucial stage. I think to some extent his departure might have affected the team's performance. When you are chasing the championship or fighting relegation, you would want to summon all the resources that you have to make sure that you achieve your goal.

"But yet again you have to look at the coach's career. This might have been the only chance he had to further his studies and enhance his status as a coach. When you look at all that, you will understand his (Kaindu) decision. For him (Kaindu) at some point there will be life after Highlanders and he would need that qualification. So from that end you bear with him," said the outspoken gaffer.

Turning to the weekend's clash, Masomere said he would fight tooth and nail to irk a positive result from Highlanders and secure a top eight finish which will enable his side to defend the Banc ABC cup.

Shabanie Mine are also not safe from relegation and would need at least point from Highlanders to steer away from the chasing pack of Black Rhinos Buffaloes and Black Mambas, Triangle and Hwange who are all facing the chop.

"We have to prepare very well for this match because it will not be an easy one. We are not yet safe from relegation and we still harbour ambitions of a top eight finish. That makes the match a must-win for us," said Masomere. Bosso assistant coach Bekithemba Ndlovu, who will again take charge of the match, said they need nothing other than a win.

"We must finish strongly by beating Shabanie Mine. We need to win the match. The race is still open and anything can happen. We still have a chance we have not given up. What we have to do is to win the match and hope that other results work in our favour.

"It is bad that we now have to depend on the results of other teams when we could have won the championship if we had beaten Harare City. We tried against Harare City, but I think the effort was not enough. The mentality of being strong whereby players prefer dying on the field so as to get a result was not there," he said. "It is a learning curve for us. We have learnt that we have to try and win games on our own and not depend on other teams to do it for us," he said.

Masomere said Tarisai Rukanda, Pervington Zimunya, Caleb Masocha and Valentine Ndaba were being assessed, while Ndlovu said they were assessing Dumisani Ndlovu, Mthulisi Maphosa and Bruce Kangwa.