Claasen: Middendorp has an ace up his sleeve

The start of January was promising to be the turning of the corner for Maritzburg United, who have been scratching their heads trying to find a way to move away from the relegation quagmire.

The Team of Choice won their opening two games of the year, starting with a 2-1 win against Bloemfontein Celtic and a 2-0 win away to Kaizer Chiefs.

Those two games were followed by a draw before it went south again for Ernst Middendorp’s team, as they conceded four goals in the last two games in losses to Orlando Pirates and TS Galaxy.

Today United face a KZN derby against a wounded Golden Arrows side, whose hopes of an invincible season went up in smoke when they were stunned 4-2 by Cape Town City in a thrilling contest last time out.

Veteran Maritzburg midfielder Daylon Claasen (right) says Middendorp has an ace up his sleeve and is sharpening the sword in anticipation of the trip to the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium.

“The coach has got some tactics he is working on and we hope it will go according to plan. But one can only prepare so much, on the day you need to adjust and adapt accordingly to win the game. We are just focusing on ourselves and not Arrows,” said Claasen.

Over the years, the scales have always been fairly balanced when it comes to this particular derby, but the Team of Choice must still go as far back as 2016 for the last time they managed to beat their rivals. “We are just trying our best at training to rectify our mistakes and take the game to Arrows. I expect it to be a difficult game, especially as it is two teams from KwaZulu-Natal, these games are never easy. I expect a competitive match and we will give our best,” said Claasen.

“In a game of soccer one can’t do anything but keep working...and I hope things will change for us because we do play to win. It is just unfortunate that the two recent results we got were not in our favour,” he added.