Daniels on how to beat ex-club Ajax

MAMELODI SUNDOWNS defender Clayton Daniels (pictured) faces his former team Ajax Cape Town in a league fixture in Atteridgeville tomorrow afternoon (kick-off 3pm) – and he has already revealed the Cape club’s secrets.

The Bishop Lavis-born player was an influential member of the Ajax team and even spent the early part of the season on trial at Ajax Amsterdam.

On his return from the Netherlands, though, with the ambition bug biting, there was no turning back when big-spending Sundowns came calling for his services.

Ajax weren’t happy to lose Daniels, but what could they do? It’s better to let a player go, rather than keep him and have an unhappy footballer, someone who doesn’t want to be there, in the squad.

In an interview on the Sundowns website, Daniels said: “I will put my feelings aside on the day and focus on the job at hand, which is to win the match and collect all three points on offer. I think Sundowns have the edge over Ajax due to the fact that we have depth and a lot of well-established and talented players.

“Having come so close to winning the league last season while at Ajax, I’m now more determined to better that and win trophies here at Sundowns.

“We have to put Ajax under pressure and score an early goal, while not conceding because once Ajax score they tend to gain confidence on the ball and that could be very dangerous for us.

“In my opinion, Ajax aren’t good aerially. Thulani Hlatshwayo is their only player who is good in the air and we will have to watch him during set-pieces such as corners and free-kicks. But I think we also have to try and get more set-pieces for ourselves if we want to put their defence under pressure.”

Ajax come off a 2-1 win over Kaizer Chiefs in midweek, though the performance was far from convincing.

Sundowns represent another stern challenge for the men from Cape Town – and the club’s Dutch coach Maarten Stekelenburg is expecting some improvement tomorrow.