Avram Grant believes it will not be easy to play Lesotho twice in a space of three days heading into Sunday’s final leg Group H doubleheader at Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg.
Chipolopolo beat Lesotho 3-1 on Thursday at home in Ndola to inch closer to the magic 9-pointer they need to make a strong case for their first AFCON qualification since 2015.
“It is even very difficult to play even at club level to play against the same team in a space of three days, especially the national team,” Grant said during Saturday’s pre-match briefing in Johannesburg.
“It is not easy for us and not easy for them also I would have preferred to play another team but that’s the programme we will try our best to win.”
Meanwhile, Chipolopolo has one injury absentee with captain and midfielder Lubambo Musonda of Horsens in Denmark ruled out.
Lubambo sustained a hamstring injury in the 14th minute of the first leg match at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
Zambia is second on 6 points, one point behind Cote d’Ivoire.
Comoros are third on 3 points while Lesotho is bottom with 1 point heading to match-day-four of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.
Like fans have said before, this is actually the easiest draw Zambia has ever been given to qualify for the finals. If they beat Lesotho on Sunday and I Coast win away Chipolopolo will have qualified. Unless Comoros beat Zambia twice. Ivory Coast can then win all their remaining matches but they wont change anything as the number two team will qualify.