Benni licks lips for Chiefs
TEST: TWO CRUCIAL ASSIGNMENTS FOR BEFORE FINAL
McCarthy hopes his players will bring their A games for Chiefs and Pirates.
Two weeks before heading into his second successive MTN8 final against SuperSport United, Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy has some daunting Absa Premiership fixtures to negotiate.
Cape City will battle it out against Kaizer Chiefs at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, before travelling to Gauteng for a meeting with Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium next Wednesday.
With the final most probably on top of the players’ priority lists, McCarthy believed going up against the Soweto giants before the trophy decider was a blessing in disguise because the players would get psyched up.
“I focus game by game, and try to switch with my players with the same mode, by focusing on one game at a time,” McCarthy said.
“But you know when you reach a final and you know it is around the corner, the players start thinking about saving themselves, and they don’t go into these games 100%. They go in half-hearted because they think about getting injured and not getting their bonuses.
“That’s the way the mind works and these guys are young and none of them wants to miss it.
“In a way, it’s a bit fortunate that we play Chiefs then Pirates. It’s games where they want to be psyched up and they all want to be involved in, so I think they can put playing in the final in the back of their minds because it is six points up for grabs.”
The Cape Town City coach was looking to capitalise on Amakhosi’s bad start to the season by adding more salt to the wound.
Giovanni Solinas’ charges had not registered a victory in five games, recording four draws and one loss, while City’s campaign had been decent, with one win, two draws and one loss, with a game in hand over Chiefs.
“We are in a good run and we are facing a dragon that is wounded a little bit. Chiefs’ run hasn’t been the greatest,” McCarthy said.
“They are wounded and if we can capitalise on that then it will be perfect preparation for the final. But for me, I am 100% focused and switched on for the Saturday game.”
Meanwhile, Amakhosi confirmed they were studying the PSL disciplinary rules, with the side having been ordered to play two games behind closed doors after they were found guilty of fan violence at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban earlier this year.