Tichaona Diya vs Munyaradzi Diya as Dembare takes on Bosso

WITH four defeats in the past 11 matches of the 2014 campaign, some wise men have labelled the performance by champions Dynamos as "the end of an era".

It's a disaster that has struck the champions who have lifted the ultimate prize of domestic football for the past three years.

Dynamos have lost to ZPC Kariba, Buffaloes, Chapungu and Hwange who recently inflicted an open-handed slap on their face which was as loud and painful as unexpected.

They are lying in fifth place on the league table and as they face high-flying old enemy Highlanders who sit pretty in second-place, at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, they have a huge challenge to prove that they are still a force and that the four defeats were grotesque accidents, not the end of a glorious age.

Goalkeepers' coach Tichaona Diya acknowledged they have displayed a lacklustre performance not consistent with defending champions, but refused to stigmatise his troops by those four defeats which threaten to plunge them into an irretrievable nose dive.

He said it was time to keep the faith and remind themselves of their past dreams.

"We are at home and have to collect maximum points," Diya said after the team's morning training session at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

"The defeat to Hwange was painful, but it's now water under the bridge. We have to bounce back to winning ways. It will not be easy against Highlanders. They are unbeaten, but we are not worrying ourselves much about those stats.

"The game against Highlanders will be self-motivating. The boys just don't want to lose against Highlanders. We need to believe. It's time to keep the faith," Diya said.

Dynamos coach Kalisto Pasuwa was fretting over the fitness of midfielders Devon Chafa and Tawanda Muparati.

The two have resumed training and will have to pass a late fitness test.

Highlanders skipper Innocent Mapuranga was, however, oozing confidence ahead of the big clash urging his troops to forget the nightmare of having failed to beat Dynamos in the last eight years and evoke the dream.

Bosso last beat Dynamos way back in 2006, the same year they won the league championship. Attempts to defeat their rivals in subsequent years have ended in a deluge of tears, although under Kelvin Kaindu they have managed three draws and one loss.

Mapuranga said they did not want to continue living in the past. "There is a lot at stake and it will be a very interesting match. Of course we have not beaten Dynamos for a long time now, but we can't continue to live in the past. This will be a completely new game and we are going there with a positive attitude," he said.

"Football is always a game of pressure and it's natural that you have pressure in games like these, but what is important for us is to approach it like any other game. We are not reading much into the fact that we are still unbeaten. All we need are maximum points."

Highlanders are coming from two straight drawn games against FC Platinum and Triangle, but are yet to taste defeat since the start of the campaign.

They have drawn six times – two short of those recorded in the 2012 season when they finished the campaign as runners-up to Dynamos.

The Bulawayo giants had their confidence boosted by the quick recovery of injured Kuda Mahachi and Rahman Kutsanzira who are expected to make the trip to Harare.