SuperSport hoping to banish poor cup form

SuperSport United will be looking to end their run of bad form in the Nedbank Cup when they play fellow DStv Premiership club Richards Bay in the last-16 at King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium today.

Since winning the season-ending cup competition in 2017, Matsatsantsa a Pitori have struggled to replicate the same form.

They have only reached the quarterfinals once while suffering first round exits on five occasions.

SuperSport assistant coach Andre Arendse (below) is targeting a place in the last eight and possibly going all the way. Their last triumph came against Orlando Pirates in the final seven years ago.

“This is a cup competition that we want to go deep in. We were known previously as one of the clubs who were cup kings,” he said.

“Cup final after cup final, you would have found us there. We have taken a bit of a knock in terms of where we are with our journey in cup competitions. But the fact that we are still here gives us an opportunity to go deep into the competition. “Maybe we will miss some of the big teams and you never know how the draw will go but this is a cup competition we have a good relationship with and we want to stay in it as long as we can.”

The Natal Rich Boyz are embroiled in a relegation scrap in the league. They are seven points from safety after 20 matches. Arendse is, however, wary of the struggling KwaZulu-Natal-based club.

“What is lovely is to still be in the cup. As you rightfully say it’s been a while since we had a run in a cup like this,” he added.

“At this stage we consider it a bonus to still be in the hat. Richards Bay are going to be a challenge.

“Firstly, they are hovering at the bottom of the table from a league perspective. But they are also looking to just change the focus a little bit and have a run in this cup. So this is not going to be an easy fixture for us.”

Bradley Grobler, who suffered a knock in the 1-1 draw against Mamelodi Sundowns is also suspended for the match, while Richards Bay defender Abdi Banda will also miss the game due to suspension.