Former coach Ertugral keen to outfox Ajax in Nelspruit

THIS week the PSL will stage the final round of games for the year before the festive break and then resumes on January 8 next year.

Ajax Cape Town’s final game of the year sees them taking on third-placed Mpumalanga Black Aces in Mbombela on Saturday night (kickoff 8.15pm) – and they definitely need to show some improvement. Things haven’t gone too well of late and they have slumped to 11th position on the PSL standings.

Even the fact that Ajax still have two games in hand on the other teams doesn’t hide the fact that the trend has been downward since their MTN8 victory earlier in the season.

Ajax coach Roger de Sa will have his U23 stars – Jody February, Rivaldo Coetzee, Abbubaker Mobara and Riyaad Norodien – back from Senegal but he will have to assess them on return. The youngsters will, no doubt, be tired and, chances are, De Sa will err on the side of caution and rather rest the quartet.

Another interesting aspect that further spices up the clash is that Ajax will come up against former coach, Muhsin Ertugral. The Turkish mentor has had a few spells at Ajax and knows exactly what makes them tick.

Ertugral has breathed new life into Aces – and he will be keen to continue the momentum against his former club on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Ajax have admitted they “know nothing” about Angolan side, GD Sagrada Esperança, their opponents in the opening round of the Caf Confederations Cup in February next year. The Cape side last competed in African interclub competition in 2009 and are looking forward to the opportunity again.

“We don’t know too much about (them),” said Ajax chief executive Ari Efstathiou. “I spoke to the coach (De Sa) and he, too, is at a bit of a loss with the opponents. But we’ll do our research and be ready.

“The first leg is away and we have already heard that we will have to travel to Luanda by plane and then have a further 400km road journey to get to the venue. But it will be a great experience for our young squad and we’ll do our best.

“The problem, though,” added Efstathiou, “is that, if we make it through to the group stages, then we will have an issue. It’s the same time as the Rio Olympics… and, with the U23s having qualified, chances are that we will lose four or five players.” – Rodney Reiners