Sensational ZANACO will be without five players when they welcome Green Buffaloes at Sunset Stadium tomorrow, Friday, 3rd October, 2025.
Head Coach Numba Mumamba confirmed the development in a pre match interview but was quick to urge the replacements to work hard and fill the void left by the players who are out of the match.
Striker Lambert Araina leads the players who are expected to miss the encounter after he sustained an ankle injury during the Bankers 3-2 win over Kabwe Warriors.
Araina is expected to be out for seven days. Others are Malawian midfielder Robert Saizi who also sustained a knock and John Chishimba who is out with an illness.
Meanwhile Fredrick Mwimanzi and George Ngoma who are on loan from the Zambia army sponsored outfit can’t play against their parent club.
“We have made five changes, Two green Buffaloes in Fred (Fredrick Mwimanzi) and George Ngoma who are on loan and can not play against their parent club. The others are Robert Saizi who has a knock, John Chishimba who is sick and Lambert Araina is also out with the knock sustained in the last game,” Numba said.
“This is something that has shaken up the team. We hope the players who have been drafted into the team will prove themselves to make it difficult for the other players to come back to increase competition in the team which is a positive we have seen so far this season,” he added.
The Bankers are coming off a 3-2 win over the Magnificent People’s Team, Kabwe Warriors, their first game this season to score more than a single goal which is something that has pleased Numba and his technical bench.
“Our finishing has been a let down since the season kicked off but seeing our team convert three chances in our last game is something that has motivated us as a technical bench. This is the area we have been working on week in week out but we had not been scoring more than one goal until the last game. We hope the players can continue doing what they did in the last game,” he said.
“We have told our team not to be reluctant, we are playing a good team in Green Buffaloes. We have to make sure we are on top of things to get a positive result.”
Mumamba says they have been working on the defense to be comfortable on the ball and build from the back in games.
“Our defense was a bit uncomfortable building up from the back and we have worked on that in training . We are hoping this time around they will be hoping that they will be able to build up from the back,” he said.
The Bankers will be hoping to continue their fine form but face a team they have only between twice in the last ten meetings.
Kick off at Sunset Stadium is set for 15h00 while tickets are selling at K40 for open win, K60 from Grandstand and K120 for VIP.
