AmaZulu not bothered about venue change

AMAZULU are not bothered about the fact that they won’t be able to host Orlando Pirates at their “slaughter house” which is King Zwelithini Stadium in the quarter-final of the Telkom Knockout on Saturday.

The game has been moved to the Moses Mabhida Stadium due to security concerns in Umlazi. Opposition teams have struggled to get results at the King Zwelithini Stadium this season. Baroka FC, Free State Stars, Maritzburg United, Mamelodi Sundowns, Pirates and Cape Town City have all struggled in Umlazi. Usuthu have failed to score only once at home this season, while winning three games and sharing the spoils on three occasions.

Sundowns and Pirates were lucky to get away with draws at the King Zwelithini Stadium as Usuthu were all over them. Team manager at AmaZulu, Qedi Dlamini, is confident that the change of venue won’t distract Usuthu in their pursuit of a good Cup run.

“The fact that the game is at Moses Mabhida won’t effect us. Obviously we would have loved to have played the game at King Zwelithini Stadium where we have done well, but at the same time we understand why the game was taken to Moses Mabhida. We sat down with the league (PSL) and deliberated and then we came to the decision to move the game to Moses Mabhida Stadium. We accepted that on good faith. Mabhida is in Durban and is one of our home grounds. We will go out there and give it our best,” Dlamini said.

Usuthu haven’t won the Telkom Knockout in 26 years. The last time they lifted the trophy was back in 1992 when they beat Kaizer Chiefs 3-1.

“We will approach the game in the right manner. The players won’t be affected mentally. I also want to stress that we have a good relationship with the league. We don’t feel that we are being targeted. Obviously there is room for improvement from both sides,” Dlamini said.

Usuthu were docked six points for breaching Fifa rules a few weeks ago. They were also thrown out of the top eight last season because of the Tendai Ndoro saga with Ajax Cape Town.

“Even in this case (of moving the game to Moses Mabhida) we didn’t fight. Our communication was a good example that we don’t have anything against each other,” Dlamini explained.

Meanwhile, Kaizer Chiefs haven’t enjoyed good times in their home matches in knockout competitions at the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium in recent times.

Chiefs will face SuperSport United at the venue on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the Telkom Knockout.

They will be hoping to change their fortunes. Last season Amakhosi were dumped out of the quarter-finals of the MTN8 by SuperSport United at the Moses Mabhida Stadium thanks to a well taken goal by Jeremy Brockie.

The Telkom Knockout is a great platform for under-fire coach Giovanni Solinas to ease some pressure.