Royal AM coach John Maduka says having worked with Molefi Ntseki at Bloemfontein Celtic won’t help him on Saturday “because it is a different ball-game” now that Ntseki is at Kaizer Chiefs.
Maduka worked with Ntseki for a short while at Celtic, where Ntseki was part of the club’s youth structures before he left to join SAFA.
Ntseki was thrust into the spotlight as Chiefs coach, who host Royal AM at FNB Stadium on Saturday (17:30).
By the look of things, it is a game that is set to interest the masses as both sides have won their last two league matches to sit fifth and ninth, respectively.
Royal AM, before the FIFA break, picked their first league win of the season by defeating TS Galaxy at home before beating Chippa United away, while Amakhosi trounced AmaZulu 3-0 to also register their first league win of the season at home and followed that with a 2-0 away against a dangerous Stellenbosch.
“Molefi is like a mentor to me, a good friend, a very good coach and there were so many things that I learnt from him having worked together at Celtic,” Maduka told iDiski Times.
“When it comes to the game, you can say I know him but it is a totally different ball game but we know each other.
“I know how Cape Town City plays and any other clubs in the league, but they know how I play, but on the day it is an application – how do your players apply themselves during that particular match.
“We have information about them, they have information about us. They see us week in and week out on how we play.
“We need to avoid making mistakes but the application will be key in the game.”
Impressively, Maduka has not lost a league match against Chiefs across two spells with Royal AM, doing the double over them in the 2021/22 season when Thwhili Thwahla punched above their weight to finish third in the DStv Premiership table.
Royal AM’s last league visit under Maduka at FNB Stadium was a joyous one for the club as they thumped Amakhosi 4-1, leaving the club’s chairman Andile Mpisane blasting music on high volume with his speaker in the stands, and Maduka wishes “this could happen again”.
“It made us known in this game, in this league,” said Maduka as Royal AM’s president Shauwn Mkhize had purchased the status of Celtic before that season started to form Royal AM.
“We would love to do well in the game, but it is a different ball game as I said.
“We don’t have anything to prove, we just have to go out there and work hard. The harder we work, the more we give ourselves a chance to win the game.”
