Dar Es Salaam — SIMBA have said they will not be deterred by the 'dirty tricks' used by their opponents Lengthens FC, to distract them ahead of their first round, first leg Confederation Cup clash in Harare, Zimbabwe on Friday.

The Msimbazi Street team left on Tuesday morning with a delegation of 19 players and six officials and touched down in Harare in the afternoon, only to see a cold reception.

Players reportedly spent more than five hours outside the hotel and they had to leave for training without checking in.

The chairman of Players' Registration Committee, Kassim Dewji, who is in Harare with the team, said yesterday that the problem was solved and the players checked in late in the evening.

However, Dewji said that the players are not intimidated and that fans should expect nothing short of good match results. "We are not afraid. We know that these kinds of tricks are used by opponents to demoralize or weaken opponents.

"But we came down here with a clear-cut mission. Our target remains the same - getting good results that will give us advantage in the second leg match at home in two weeks' time," said Dewji.

The match has already created an exciting atmosphere in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, with several media predicting a 50-50 affair between Simba and their hosts, while others described Simba as favourites to go past their home team, basing on experience and versatility.

The Zimbabweans still remember that Simba matched to the final of the CAF Cup in 1993, although they lost to Stella Abidjan of Ivory Coast.

Lengthens are making their maiden appearance in the continental championships. They saw off AS Adema of Madagascar in the preliminary round on 2-1 aggregate.

The 'Happy People' as Lengthens are popularly known, will have to do without coach Mandla, who guided them to the first round at the expense of AS Adema. He was recently replaced by Norman Mapeza.

Simba players who are in Harare include Juma Kaseja, Ali Mustafa, Haruna Shamte, Salum Kanoni, Juma Jabu, Nico Nyagawa, Kelvin Yondan, Mohamed Banka, Hilary Echesa, Ramadhan Chombo, Musa Hassan 'Mgosi,' Mike Barasa, Ulimboka Mwakingwe, David Naftal, Uhuru Seleman, Jerry Santo, Mohamed Kijuso, Jabir Aziz and Joseph Owino.

Officials making the trip include Chairman Hassan Dalali, Chairman of Players' Registration Committee Kassim Dewji, Coach Patrick Phiri, his assistant Amri Said, Team Manager Innocent Njovu, Doctor Cosmas Kapinga and member Mulamu Ngh'ambi.