Malawi have been dealt another injury blow with news that defender Lucky Malata will miss Flames’ Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers encounter against Algeria on Saturday at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.
The Silver Strikers pillar confirmed news of his knee injury with Malawi News Agency Thursday morning.
It is further bad news for the Flames, who are also likely to miss the services of another central defender John Lanjesi who is reported to have sustained an injury during Wednesday’s training sessions.
Even without Malata, coach Young Chimodzi has targeted three points from Saturday’s encounter against the number one team in Africa for the Flames to go neck to neck with Algerian in their group.
The Flames are on third slot with three points while Algeria, who are topping the group have six points.
“We want to win both games and give ourselves a bit of a cushion in the qualifiers,” said Chimodzi.
He added: “It’s going to be a tough week with two difficult games against the same team in five days. We have enough players to fill the gaps of those injured players.
“The team will have a different look to how it was in our previous game against Ethiopia.”
With Malata injured, basing on Wednesday’s afternoon training session, Big Bullets youthful Miracle Gabeya is likely to cover the gap.
Gabeya was paired with South African based defender Harry Nyirenda during the Wednesday’s training session.
