AmaZulu head coach Pablo Franco admits that his charges are aiming for a perfect start despite a strange and long pre-season.
Franco is in his second season with Usuthu having finished in 11th place last season, after winning just one out of their first five opening league fixtures.
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The former Simba SC coach also mentioned that it is strange for him to have such a long pre-season, something he has never witnessed in his entire career, but will try to use it effectively.
“We are expecting a challenging beginning of the season,” Franco told the media.
“Not only because we all know that in PSL, the games are really difficult and competitive, but because this extended pre-season.
“I think the biggest challenge we are going to have, especially for players after such a long period of time without playing official games, is to know how are they going to be prepared and how they are going to react when they need to face competition again.
“But for me as a coach, even if it’s strange, because this is the first time in my career, I’m going for such a long pre-season. I’m trying to be positive. We are adapting to the situation, and we are taking advantage of this extra time to prepare even better.
The Spanish mentor equally drew positives from their training as they gear up for the new term.
“The team, the way we are training, and the way the guys are pushing every single day is making us stronger, individually and collectively, and it’s true that we are also building from what we already got last season,” he added.
“So, that means that we are not going to start from scratch. That we know how important is to collect points from day one, and how we suffered the consequences of not being well prepared last season.
“And I think now we are much more ready, much more confident because of the performance of the team, amazing in the games we are playing in pre-season.
“So, the idea now is to try to collect points from the very beginning, so we will play offensively, and we will try to go for victories from day one, so we can achieve great things this season.”
Usuthu open the new campaign with a tricky away tie against Polokwane City at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, September 14.
