FC Platinum chairman Evans Mthombeni has blamed their humiliating exit from the 2018 Total CAF Champions League competition at the preliminary stage on a poor recruitment strategy.

The Zimbabwe Champions were sent packing out of the tournament on a 5-1 aggregate score-line despite adding seven new players to their 2017 domestic championship winning side and Mthombeni said they could have done better with a few new quality players.

“Without saying much or trying to belittle the players that we have; we would have done with two or so high profile signings in terms of the Champions League. This is a very demanding level of the game and if only we had a player of the calibre that plays for the likes of TP Mazembe, or Ahl Ahly. Two or three of them would have given us the cutting edge. I think the guys we have might have measured to our expectations, but we fell short,” said Mthombeni.

The Platinum miners added two foreign players - Albert Eonde from Cameroon and Shadreck Mayembe from Zambia while also recruiting six more from local clubs - Rahman Kutsanzira from Highlanders, James Mukombwe from Black Rhinos, Never Tigere from ZPC Kariba, Collin Phiri from Hwange and Lawrence Mhlanga who was previously attached to Chicken Inn.

Of the new recruits, only winger Tigere played in both legs while Kutsanzira and Mhlanga played away in Angola.