AmaZulu Head Coach Benni McCarthy is expecting a revived Black Leopards when the two clubs meet in the Nedbank Cup at Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday.
McCarthy says the cup is a whole other ballgame and Leopards will be confident after their mid-week win over Golden Arrows.
McCarthy is hoping the pitch at Thohoyandou is in good condition, and says issues like that, the weather and the travel from Durban are other concerns he has.
“Ja, no, I think Black Leopards, new management, a very experienced coach that came in and became sporting director for them,” McCarthy told AmaZulu media.
“So I think, you know, when there’s changes at clubs, it always sparks something new for the players and yeah, you can see it’s players that’s playing under new management.
“So it was a good win for them [on Tuesday], for the morale, for what is to fight for. But I think Nedbank is a different beast. So I think both teams is gonna obviously put teams in who they think can go and win games.”
“And yeah, I’m expecting a very tough game for us. So for us, it will be more complicated a little bit, because obviously, the travel to Thohoyandou, it’s a nightmare, and then the conditions, I think the weather is completely different from Durban.”
“So ja, we’ve got a lot of things where we have to adapt to, and then hopefully, the pitch will be playable. And it will be a pitch where we can play the way we want to play, and not be disrupted because the conditions are strange to us.”
“But I’m expecting a tough hard game, a Black Leopards that’s newly revived, and they may think there’s opportunities for them, as well as for any team that’s still in the competition to go all the way.”
“So yeah, so we just want to go out there and be organized and be disciplined, and give the best that we can possibly give. And then hopefully that will be enough for us to go further in the competition.”
