CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe has refused to blame his team’s poor performance on the off-field crisis that hit the club in recent weeks.

The Green Machine suffered their heaviest league defeat in recent years after going down 6-2 at the hands of Manica Diamonds on Sunday.

The humiliation followed after the players have held several strikes in protests over unpaid salaries.

Speaking after the match, Chitembwe said: “This is a disappointing result, we lost it in the first half.

“We knew that we were going to lose one day, but the defeat has nothing to do with what was happening outside the football ground, we are going back to the drawing board.

“In fact, our situation has greatly improved and this is why I am saying the heavy defeat has nothing to do with the financial challenges that we faced in recent months.”

Manica Diamonds cruised to victory through the braces of Lloyd Katongomara and Charles Teguru as well as a goal apiece from Collin Dhuwa and Farai Mugumwa.

CAPS United got their consolation goals through William Manondo and Rodwell Chinyengetere.- Soccer24 Zimbabwe