Warriors interim coach has pleaded with Zimbabweans to be patient with his team ahead of group C CAF World Cup Qualifiers double header against Lesotho and South Africa.

Tapera's appointment as Warriors coach has been criticized in the football circles together with the squad he selected.

Commenting after conducting his first training session with the team on Monday morning in South Africa, Tapera urged the nation to rally behind the team.

"First of all I say patience, let's have patience with the team, let's just just rally behind the team.

"For those in South Africa we say come and support these boys, they want you to support them so that they can do better," said Tapera.

As of Monday all the players called for duty by coach Jairos Tapera were in camp except for Teenage Hadebe who is expected to join the squad on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe's first game will be on Friday when they host Lesotho at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg before playing South Africa four days later at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.

"I want to tell you one thing, we are here to win .

"We are going to give it our all, not only for us but for the whole of Zimbabwe.

"I am happy with what I have seen, it's our first training and there is room to improve going forward," added Tapera.

Head to head Zimbabwe has been dominating Lesotho, winning 17 of their 24 meetings, five of those ending as draws while Lesotho has only won twice.

However, the two sides' last three meetings were at the COSAFA Cup and they all ended as stalemates.