AmaZulu’s powerful left-back Riaan Hanamub says it would be wrong for them to underestimate Cape Town Spurs at Athlone Stadium on Saturday (17:30).
This is especially because Spurs have a wily old coach in the form of Ernst Middendorp, who was brought in as a ‘firefighter’ to save the club from the mud of relegation.
Middendorp is familiar with such firefighting roles, having saved Maritzburg United twice in his career – in the 2015/16 and 2020/21 seasons respectively.
Spurs, who were promoted last season, are cellar dwellers in the DStv Premiership table having lost 14 of the 16 games they have played so far.
They have only accumulated just four points in those matches, and one of those points came against AmaZulu, who they drew with late last year in Durban.
The sole win for the Cape side club came when they defeated Orlando Pirates, the first game when Sean Conor was temporarily in charge.
But as it is known the second round of the season will be a mad dash due to many games in a short space of time.
Hanamub, who was with Namibia’s team that made history at the Africa Cup of Nations that was concluded last weekend, is not taking Middendorp’s side likely, especially after they have made some adjustments in the transfer market.
“We don’t need to look at the log, we need to look at the fixture,” said Hanamub.
“The second round is always tough for any team, so I don’t think the position at which Cape Town Spurs are plays a big role because they are also looking at accumulating points. So, it is just for us to be mentally ready for anything and to be able to give our all on the pitch. I think our best will do the rest.”
Middendorp was left fuming at his side scored first through Luke Baartman but failed to get over the line against Usuthu. When the final whistle was blown at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, he went around the stadium infuriated, clear that they had let all points slip through their fingers.
Middendorp has notably gone into the market to bolster his side by signing former AmaZulu attacking midfielder Siphesihle Maduna, Katlego Maphathe, Gadiel Michael Kamagi, and Mogamad De Goede.
“I think we are going to Cape Town for a difficult fixture as we know Cape Town Spurs are scraping for the results due to the position they find themselves in,” said Taariq Fielies when asked how they are approaching this fixture on Saturday.
“We are in the same boat – we have goals and objectives, and we also want to climb up the ladder. It will be an interesting game and they have made few new signings, so we are well prepared having had a postponement (of our game against Stellenbosch FC on Tuesday), that gave us more time to prepare well enough for Cape Town Spurs.”
Usuthu, who hammered Royal AM in December in their last game before the Africa Cup of Nations finals, are positioned eighth in the DStv Premiership with 22 points after 16 matches.
