Highlands’ Igesund fears Bucs backlash

GORDON Igesund is out to win the Telkom Knockout cup competition with his Highlands Park side this season.

But the coach understands his hopes will not go unchallenged as they have two more knockout rounds to go before they reach the final stage of the competition.

The Lions of the North lock horns with Orlando Pirates in a quarter- final clash at Orlando Stadium today (kick-off 8pm).

Igesund warned his side to guard against complacency as Pirates are likely to approach this encounter like wounded tigers, following a humiliating 6-1 defeat at the hands of SuperSport United in a PSL league clash on Tuesday.

“Definitely,” Igesund said. “Our priority is to stay in the league this season. The league championship is not even on our minds. We want to avoid the chop in this campaign and possibly start challenging for it in the next campaign.

“The Te l ko m Knockout remains our only realistic chance of winning something this season.

“The players are aware of it. They need to grab this opportunity with both hands and run with it, otherwise they might live to regret it. It would be nice if we could go all the way (to the final).”

The former Bafana Bafana coach added that he was pleased with how his players were responding in training following his arrival at the club, saying that the threegame unbeaten run so far was a sign of good things in this campaign.

“The players are gradually adapting to the way I want them to play and I’m happy with that,” Igesund said.

“They gave a good