Chikaka, who joined Tshilamoya this season, lost his elder brother during the week.
"Chikaka will not be part of the team this weekend as he had to rush to the capital following the sad news of the passing on of his brother. He had been doing so well during our training sessions but I must say that we have able replacements although he will be missed of course," said history making Highlanders coach Kelvin Kaindu.
In the absence of Chikaka, Kaindu is likely to thrust in Graham Ncube who has been missing in action due to injury in the last couple of games in an effort to complete a double over the police team whom they beat 3-1 in the reverse fixture on 5 May at Morris Depot.
The Zambian said besides Chikaka and the already injured Bruce Tshuma, his camp has a clean bill of health and was ready for the Harare outfit.
He said what was important was for the team to remain firmly focused and make sure they don't lose focus, not at this stage of the campaign.
With Kangwa in full force, Kaindu will probably juggle between Atlast Musasa and Lawson Nkomo for the rightback position while sticking to his tried and trusted defensive pair of skipper Innocent Mapuranga and Eric Mudzingwa with national team goalie Ariel Sibanda standing guard in between the posts.
A dream striking partner between Ncube and young Ozias Sibanda could be in the offing tomorrow as Highlanders seek to score as many goals as possible.
Barbourfields Stadium is likely to be filled to capacity judging by the hype in the soccer corridors of the city as fans realise the importance of cheering the boys on, especially at this crucial stage of the championship.
Without doubt, Amahlolanyama fans would be praying for a positive result while hoping that their rivals Dynamos fall to relegation threatened Hwange at the Colliery tomorrow.
The reigning champions though are not taking the Hwange match lightly as shown by their decision to leave for the colliery yesterday, probably to acclimatise.
Fourth placed Chicken Inn, who still have a mathematical chance of landing the league title in the event that the unthinkable happens where Dynamos and Highlanders lose all their remaining matches and they win theirs, are playing host to Gweru-based Hardbody at Luveve Stadium today.
With six games before the curtain comes down to the 2012 season, the Adam Ndlovu-coached side can end the season at 59 points if they win all the games.
The Bulawayo outfit, who are likely going to provide a Soccer Star of the Year finalist in defender and skipper Felix Chindungwe, will be without another exciting defender Guide Goddard who was red-carded in the 1-1 away draw with Buffaloes last weekend.
In the match Goddard turned out to be the villain of the afternoon as he was heavily involved in both goals, first conceding a penalty which was converted by Buffaloes before giving his side the equaliser only to be harshly sent off after he was adjudged to have fouled the goalkeeper in what could have been Chicken Inn's stunning winner
By Sbue
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
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