Stars’ third-place finish in the Absa Premiership last season saw them qualify for the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup, where they have been drawn to face Uniao do Songo from Mozambique in their preliminary round tie in February.
“There’s excitement in the club despite the unwarranted displays and position,” Mazingiza tells his club’s website. “We are excited with the prospects of competing in the CAF Confederation Cup. Preparations are underway. We have just finalised our registration. We are on track in terms of our plans. We are looking forward to determined and better displays.
“Everybody is registered in terms of who is supposed to be there. We have got about five spaces. If we are lucky to get the players that the coach desires, we are likely to register them for the competition.”
Dikwena have not enjoyed the same form as last year so far this season, entering the mid-season break in 13th place after an inconsistent start to the 2016/17 campaign, and Mazingiza admits it’s been disappointing.
“We are hopeful that we will do much better than we did in the last six months,” he says. “It’s been an interesting journey. We should have done much better. Competition is very high this season. Others cubs went out to spend a lot of money on players and technical teams. We did relatively okay but I am not happy with the position we are in. We would have been comfortable if we are up there in the top eight.”
Yet the Dikwena general manager is confident his club will bounce back to their best in 2017.
“We are going to come back strong,” he continued. “Towards the end of the year, in our last four matches, you could see that it was the Platinum Stars we know. The boys were knocking the ball around and they were confident. We will come back strong.”