Zebras need some luck
Injury-plagued Clarence keeping the faith
THREE games into the NPL season, David Smith and his Clarence Zebras are already looking for a change of fortune ahead of today’s game against the Glenorchy Knights.
The out-of-luck Zebras currently sit sixth, and announced during the week that centreback Noah Smithies-Sharples will be added to the list of longterm injuries with a torn ACL and meniscus.
The Zebras face an in-form
Glenorchy Knights and coach David Smith said he is interested to see how his side copes with the challenge.
“[The Knights] are on a bit of a run and they’ve won their last two quite convincingly. They’re on a bit of a high and they’re always going to be hard to knock off in these sorts of situations. It’ll be interesting to see what turns up and whether we can nullify them,” he said.
“They’ve got some good quality attackers and we need to be working together as a unit. We have to turn up to be competitive, that’s the key thing, but I’ve got faith in the boys. With a little bit of luck, we’ll score a couple.”
Since signing for the Knights two weeks ago, Joffrey Nkoso has a goal and three assists in his first two appearances and will be looking to continue his run of form today against a weakened Zebras side. The Knights have won their past two games and are within touching distance of league-leaders Devonport after consecutive 3-1 victories over Olympia and South Hobart.
“With the recruiting they’ve done they’re always going to be hard to beat and they’re well organised,” Smith said.
“They’re pretty well injury free. All of their players are there unlike other teams that have lost players. Teams that don’t have injuries are probably the ones that survive and at the end of the day, that’s the key.”
The good news for the Zebras this week came in the form of a new signing. Samson Juju joined the club from South Hobart and will be in the squad for today’s clash.
In other fixtures, Devonport will attempt to continue its unbeaten run when hosting a South Hobart side looking to bounce back from a loss last week. Kingborough has a chance to stay in second-place with a victory over the visiting Launceston City and the winless Olympia Warriors will try to open their account in a clash with Riverside.