BY SABELO GWEBU
MBABANE – After the sacking of Terisayi Changara early in the week, Mpendulo Mawelela will lead Manzini Wanderers in their crunch clash against high-flying Mbabane Swallows.
Changara was shown the exit door after an embarrassing 5-0 defeat to rivals Denver Sundowns in the hub derby last weekend at Mavuso Sports Centre. Mawelela who has worked with Changara as an assistant for the past four months is already scratching his head at the danger posed by Swallows attacker Felix Badenhorst, the current MTN Premier League leading goal scorer with 15.
“In this Swallows team if you do not plan for Felix then you do not know what you are doing. He is one of their best players and we will have the plan to close him down,” Mawelela said in his post-match press conference at the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) headquarters, Sigwaca House.
“We are coming from a bad result but we have put that behind us now and the focus is on the Swallows game. Yes, there have been changes in the technical bench but it means nothing and the only thing that can change is the plan for this particular game as every game needs its own approach. We will still use the same philosophy and the way we play but maybe in a different way,” he said.
He added that they respect Swallows but are not afraid of them, saying there are used to play against them and that title-chasing Swallows know that their games are never easy.
“The only difference is that they have been collecting points while we have been unlucky and that does not mean we have been playing badly. They scored two in our last game and we will guard against conceding this time to have a chance of winning this clash.”
