Lamine Ndiaye - Photo Courtesy TP Mazembe Media.
TP Mazembe head coach Lamine Ndiaye has revealed their readiness to take on Young Africans (Yanga SC) in their CAF Champions League fixture at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.
The two sides will face off for the second time having drawn 1-1 in the first round meeting at the TP Mazembe Stadium. With the Group A closely contested, both teams will be going flat out for a win.
“We are prepared to play against Young Africans, we have worked on the mistakes of the last game. We believe we will win. Tomorrow is another game, an important game but not a decisive game. We know its importance and we want to win,” said Ndiaye ahead of the game.
He added: “We know the significance of the game. We are not here for holidays. We have to improve from certain things in the last game obviously. Yanga will be tough but we know where to hurt them because we need the three points at all cost.”
His counterpart Sead Ramovic of Yanga labelled Mazembe a very strong team by saying: “Very important match to us. It is a different game and we will see where we are. It is new day, new game, different moment. TP Mazembe is a strong team and we have to put in the effort."
“Confidence is the key. Confidence comes from the training and we know we are capable but if we win Inshallah, if we draw Inshallah, if we lose Inshallah.”
Ahead of the fixture, Yanga received a major boost with the return of key players led by goalkeeper Djigui Diarra, Kennedy Musonda, Maxi Nzengeli, and Chadrack Boka, who resumed training for the matchday four battle.
Diarra and Nzengeli were injured in the match in Lubumbashi, and it was initially reported that their recovery would take longer. Speaking on the return of the players, Ramovic said: "As a team, we are happy about the return of the injured players as we are preparing for an important match this weekend. The first victory is having a full squad.
"The biggest pressure was on Diarra, but he has returned to training, and I believe he will be part of Saturday's game."
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