Zambia’s misfiring strikers face Namibia test

Zambia face Namibia tomorrow with a spectre of a goal drought haunting coach George Lwandamina heading into his second game in charge.

In last weekends 2017 Africa Cup qualifier against guinea Bissau, Lwandamina was blessed with a modest bunch of Zambia’s top strikers but he opted to experiment in that dull draw to dent his tactical credentials on day one in charge

One now hopes seven days down the road that Lwandamina is a little more pragmatic as he heads into Sunday’s 2016 CHAN qualifier albeit armed with a discounted group of home-based strikers and clearly looking to find a short-term remedy to Zambia’s perennial striker malise.

“That is what we are working on we have dedicated this whole week to polish up the strike force. I hope and trust they will be able to assimilate and make use of the ideas that we are putting across,” Lwandamina said.

Meanwhile, Patson Daka returns but remains under sustained pressure to justify his place after his honeymoon with the media after a promising start at junior level that has taken a nosedive in the big league.

His fellow junior international Patrick Ngoma is hoping not to suffer the same fate after earlier earning a place in the 2015 Africa Cup team in January despite a serious injury just after his 7 goals inspired the Zambia Under-20 to Cosafa Youth Cup victory last December.

But of Lwandamina’s six attackers only the experienced Allan Mukuka, a winger, looks bankable heading into the match.

Jimmy Ndhlovu, Jackson Mwanza and veteran striker Winston Kalengo who have been dependable at the domestic level have been plagued by reliability issues at the national team.

In addition, both Mwanza and Ndhlovu were part of the team that lost 5-4 on post-match penalties to Namibia in the 2015 Cosafa Cup quarterfinals on May 24 and this grudge match presents a great opportunity for them to redeem themselves.