MWOS coach Lloyd ‘Samaita’ is not losing sleep over losing three key players ahead of the 2026 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season and is confident the Punters will mount a serious title challenge regardless.
The Norton-based finished second in their debut campaign last season behind eventual champions Scottland.
Ahead of the start of the 2026 campaign, three key players have left – goalkeeper Martin Mapisa and midfielder Nigel Matinha joined HardRock while Soccer Star of the Year finalist Abubakar Moffat was lured by Scottland.
Mutasa though, speaking on this week’s episode of Larry’s Look at the League, showed no signs of panic.
Instead, he declared that MWOS are fighting for the championship as they have what it takes to do so.
“As a team, we finished second and every coach would definitely want to do better than we did yesterday and I am no exception,” said Mutasa.
“We are looking forward to a great season where we do better than the last time.
“If you managed to have two players on the calendar [Soccer Stars], you would want to have more. In the league, if you were runners-up, you would want to go for the big one,” he added.
The veteran coach insists the Punters learnt a lot from their debut campaign last season and they will correct certain mistakes to mount another title charge this year.
“Last season we had issues whereby fatigue took its toll as the same players played too many games but this time, I believe we have the required squad depth to avoid that scenario,” said Mutasa.
Mutasa is delighted that striker Billy Veremu and midfield workhorse Tinotenda ‘Dhiziri’ Mutyambidzi renewed their contracts, a development which the soft-spoken coach admits fuels MWOS’ charge in what should be a very competitive season.
