By Angela Bambala Bwalya
Nchanga Rangers assistant coach Israel Mwanza has admitted that recurring defensive lapses and a lack of goals are proving costly after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by Nkana FC left the Chingola side rooted to the bottom of Group A in the MTN Transitional League.
The Rangers have endured a difficult start to the campaign, losing all three of their opening matches without picking up a point, with pressure mounting on the technical bench to turn their fortunes around.
First-half goals from Lazarus Kambole in the 39th minute and Patrick Gondwe five minutes later secured victory for Nkana, punishing a Nchanga side that continues to struggle with slow starts and a lack of cutting edge in the final third.
Mwanza acknowledged Nkana’s performance but admitted his side’s sluggish start proved costly in a high-intensity encounter.
“It was a tough game. If you watched this game, it was very high intensity. Nkana played a good game. As you saw, we started at a low pace and found ourselves in that situation,” he said.
Nchanga Rangers are working to implement a new style of play, but Mwanza conceded that their tendency to concede early goals was undermining their progress.
“Not really very much, but if you saw this game, in each and every game, we are allowing early goals. That is the only problem we have at the moment, but the system is fine,” he said.
The assistant coach added that the technical bench was nearing a decision on its preferred starting line-up after making changes in search of the right balance.
“We are almost there in coming up with the best eleven,” Mwanza said.
However, finding a settled team will count for little unless Nchanga can address their struggles in front of goal. Their inability to convert chances has left them with little margin for error whenever they fall behind.
“As I said, we are allowing early goals, that is one problem, and we are also not scoring. That is the major problem we have at the moment,” he said.
With three consecutive defeats leaving the team without a point, Mwanza admitted that pressure was building on the technical bench but insisted his players must fight their way out of the difficult situation.
“Pressure is always there. We are really under pressure, but you have to fight to come out of this situation,” he said.
Despite Nchanga’s alarming start, Mwanza dismissed the prospect of his side giving up the fight, vowing that they would battle until the end of the campaign.
“We cannot be in that situation. We are going to fight until the end of the season,” he said.
Nchanga Rangers will now turn their attention to a challenging trip to Lusaka to face NAPSA Stars, where they will be desperate to end their losing run and register their first points of the transitional campaign.
