Down’s boss warns of the Celtic ‘12th man’

MAMELODI Sundowns soccer boss Pitso Mosimane has warned his players to respect the influence of the proverbial “12th man” when they take on Bloemfontein Celtic in the opening round of the Telkom Knockout tomorrow.

Although the Bloemfontein fans cannot match those of Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates in terms of numbers, Celtic supporters are certainly the loudest in the country, making any trip to the Free State a difficult assignment.

And with that in mind, a wary Mosi- mane said he was approaching the contest with plenty of respect for the home crowd, particularly as the game would be played at the Kaizer Sebothelo Stadium in Botshabelo.

“A smaller pitch is a very good environment for Celtic and it gives them a good advantage because we all know they have ‘the 12th player’,” Mosimane said ahead of the encounter.

“It’s about how my players adapt to the full stadium and how they understand that the 12th man is important, but the 12th man doesn’t play.

“On the pitch, it’s 11 against 11, and it will be about how we deal with the fans mentally, in relation to the game.”

Tomorrow’s fixture makes for intriguing reading, as Celtic lifted the Knockout trophy in November last year by edging the Brazilians in the final.

The pressure on Mosimane and his Pretoria side has been mounting. The Brazilians last won a trophy in May 2008, when they beat Mpumalanga Black Aces to lift the Nedbank Cup.

Sundowns also failed to qualify for this season’s MTN8 Cup competition – which wrapped up last weekend.

Despite the negatives, Sundowns are yet to be beaten this season.

Cup Cup fixtures: fixtures: Today: Today: SuperSport United v Ajax Cape Town (Lucas Moripe Stadium), Free State Stars v AmaZulu (Goble Park), Moroka Swallows v University of Pretoria (Dobsonville Stadium), Polokwane City v Kaizer Chiefs (Peter Mokaba Stadium).

Tomorrow: Tomorrow: Platinum Stars v Maritzburg United (Moruleng Stadium), Bloemfontein Celtic v Mamelodi Sundowns (Kaizer Sebothelo Stadium).