Scottland begin to exhibit their quality

He admits though that there is still a lot of work to be done for the expensively assembled side to reach the levels he imagines.

Scottland coach Tonderai Ndiraya says his side has started to click after an average start to the season due to wholesale changes off season.

He admits though that there is still a lot of work to be done for the expensively assembled side to reach the levels he imagines.

The Castle Lager Premier Soccer League side's lavish spending under its wealthy owner Scott Sakupwanya, is yet to his the expected levels.

A run of one win in six matches had left Ndiraya under a lot of pressure not only from his highly demanding boss but from a section of the supporters who were already calling for his head eight matches into the season.

But Scottland have shown signs of progress in the past few weeks, with a streak of three wins which have cooled off the heat.

They beat Herentals and Dynamos with an identical 1-0 scoreline before Michael Tapera's superb double on Sunday handed them a 2-0 win over defending league champions and title rivals Simba Bhora.

Scottland are now second on the log standings with 22 points, one shy of leaders Mwos after eleven rounds of matches, while Simba Bhora are third.

Scottland and Mwos will face off in three weeks' time in a high stakes grudge match at Ngoni Stadium.

Ndiraya, who won the league title with Simba Bhora before joining the league debutants at the start of the season, said his team's last three results have given his men confidence as they prepare to face Manica Diamonds at Sakubva Stadium on Saturday.

"As I said, football is a process. Basically, you need about 10 games for the team to start coming together and start gelling. I think that's exactly what has happened and I'm happy for the team. You can see a lot of potential in this team. It's a team that was assembled about 11 matches ago, so you don't expect it to click at thevgo, but we are seeing a lot of progress, a lot of improvement."

He said a number of factors played a part in the good recent run, including the contribution of some of the team's fringe players who have performed well whenever called upon to help.

At Rufaro Stadium on Sunday, Tapera rose from the bench and single handedly won the match for Scottland after scoring two brilliant goals - the second, a contender for the goal of the season.

The former Dynamos coach is hoping the team can continue improving and string a number of wins together.

"I spoke about consistency going forward and that is what we expect and I hope we can get that in the coming games. But at the moment, I'm happy with what is coming out of this team. If all the players then get to do what they are supposed to do, improve the way they are supposed to improve, we can see a lot coming from the individual players that we have. We saw a glimpse of that from Michael so he's not alone in this. We've got quite a number of players who can do what Michael did, but who are only waiting for their time to do that."

Scottland's recent resurgence will be put to test by a Manica Diamonds' side desperate to return to winning ways.

The Jairosi Tapera coached team are winless invsix matches where they lost one and drew five.

Manica Diamonds are a hard team to beat at their home where they are yet to taste a defeat this term.

They only lost twice at their favourite hunting ground last season.

 

Matchday 12 fixtures 

Saturday: Fc Platinum v Bikita Minerals (Mandava), TelOne v Yadah (Ascot), Zpc Kariba v Highlanders (Nyamhunga), Herentals v Ngezi Platinum Stars (Rufaro), Simba Bhora v Triangle (Wadzanayi), Manica Diamonds v Scottland (Sakubva), Chicken Inn v GreenFuel (Luveve), Mwos v Kwekwe United (Ngoni).

Sunday: Dynamos v Caps United (Rufaro)

 

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