If you mentioned relegation and Nkana in the same sentence last season or just at the start of the current campaign it would have been considered blasphemy by the Nkana faithful but now it seems to be the reality they are facing.
The defending league Champions has now gone eight games in the league without a win. The last time Nkana won a league match was on February 4, 2021, when they defeated Nkwazi 2-0 away in Lusaka.
Nkana is currently in 17th place as they have 21 points from 21 matches which is mind-blowing for a team of their stature.
What is going on at Nkana Stadium? first Mopani Copper Mines reduced their sponsorship, COVID-19 has made sure there are no fans in the Stadium hence even one of the most marketable clubs in the land is limping with finances.
After that, there was ‘a a great trek’ as players left for greener pastures and the club had to make do with signing players they could afford not players they needed.
How do you survive relegation? By making sure you win your games especially those against teams just above you on the table. Remember that as you win, your competitors for survival are also winning like in the case of Lumwana Radiants and Young Green Eagles in the recent games.
When you meet your fellow strugglers, make sure you beat them, yes beat them and you will see the gap reduce in terms of points difference.
Nkana on the other hand has failed to do this in their last three league games. They had two games against fellow strugglers and they failed to pick up even a point from both games which has seen them moving from position 16th to 17th.
For a team that is serious about fighting relegation, they were expected to move from number 16 to 15 and eventually to 14 and keep on pushing to go further away from the relegation zone, They are Nkana they have no business with the relegation battle but well that’s their reality now.
They go into every game as favorites, but after 90 minutes, they disappoint week in week out.
If they want to survive relegation they need to re-organize themselves and be serious about it because currently, it seems like the fans are more serious about surviving relegation than the players who seem not to be working as hard as they should on the pitch.
If they continue with their current form in their next 12 league games, They may just.
