ZANACO yesterday left for Gambia with coach Mumamba Numba dropping striker Chitiya Mususu and defender Jimmy Nakena from his 18-man squad to face Armed Forces in the CAF Champions League preliminary round return leg.

The bankers have a comfortable 3-0 lead from the first leg played at Nkoloma Stadium last Saturday.

Numba said Gambia is not a team to underrate and that the bankers will not be complacent with the first leg victory.

He said Zanaco has built a tactical approach against Armed Forces hence his focus on the midfield.

“We will use more midfielders in the return leg. It is a tactical approach. We want to close up and ensure we effectively defend,” he said.

Numba said his team will have enough time to acclimatize before the game on Saturday.

“Going early will help us acclimatize because we don’t know the weather conditions that side. We are going there with a positive mind bearing in mind that Armed Forces is not a team to underrate,”he said.

And striker Martin Phiri who netted a brace in the first leg is aiming for a hat-trick in the return leg.

Phiri said his job as a striker is to score scores.

“I will definitely do much better than the first leg. I want to score three goals this time around,” he said.

Captain Ziyo Tembo said the bankers have targeted reaching the final of the Champions League.

He, however, said the preliminary round job is not yet done and the players will not rely on the first leg victory as football is dynamic.

We are not going to look at the first leg victory but we definitely have an advantage going in to the next round. We are well prepared. We just have to go there with the right attitude and perform to the best of our abilities. We have to go there to collect maximum points,” he said.