Chippa seek win to turn season around
CHIPPA United will be out to break their bad spell in the Nedbank Cup competition when they play Witbank Spurs in the last 32 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium tomorrow (kick off at 7.30pm).
But even more importantly the Port Elizabeth side will want to put a halt to their seven-match winless run.
The Chilli Boys have never passed the last-32 stage of the tournament in five attempts. Last season they were knocked out of the competition by then National First Division side Baroka FC and in the previous year it was ABC Motsepe League side Natal United who took Chippa out of the race for the trophy.
A confident Sandile Zuke said his team will turn over a new leaf tomorrow night.
“The mood is okay in the camp. I think we are ready for Witbank Spurs on Wednesday,” Zuke said.
“It will not be an easy game but I think we have to get a win, so that we can proceed to the next round.
“Teams from the lower divisions are always motivated when they play Premiership teams, so we are going to expect a tough game on Wednesday. But I think we have got the quality to beat them.”
When asked about the score prediction, the comeback kid who rejoined the team last year after having been released said: “No predictions. I just know that we are going through, that’s all.
“Something different is going to happen this time around in the competition.
“The confidence is high (in the team) and we are looking to go to the next round, so we must be confident but we should also give respect to Witbank Spurs.”
Team captain Thamsanqa Sangweni shared his sentiments. “We have never passed this stage of the competition, so the plan is to make sure that we win the first game and then take it from there,” he said.
The former Bafana Bafana defensive midfielder said the game against Spurs, who are ninth on the NFD log, will not be an easy one.
However, he said they will approach the game like any other fixture they are set to play.
“We played a NFD side last year and they took us out. This year we have to make sure that we win.”