Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane insists they have no intention of holding back against Royal AM in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals on Sunday despite chasing second place in the DStv Premiership.
Kick-off is at 6pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)
The Glamour Boys are targeting a return to the CAF Champions League for the first time since they lost 3-0 to Al Ahly in the 2021 final and they trail arch-rivals Orlando Pirates by two points in fourth position with five matches left to play.
Amakhosi are desperate to end an eight-year trophy drought stretching back to 2014-15 when they won the league title and Zwane is adamant that his players want to get their hands on the Ke Yona Cup this season.
Chiefs needed extra-time to beat Maritzburg United 2-0 in the opening round before they edged Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit Casric Stars 2-1 in the round of 16 to set up a date with Thwihli Thwahla at the Chatsworth Stadium.
"We take every game very seriously, so we are not going to select games and say we need this one to be more important than all other games," Zwane said, when asked if he was prioritising the league.
"The only thing that we can do is to juggle the squad around if need be, but the focus is to make sure that we finish as high as possible and also make sure that we go all the way to the final and win it. We want to win everything.
"We are playing against a team that is very difficult, especially for us in the past two seasons or so. It is not going to be an easy one, especially since we are playing away and they also won their last game 3-1 [against Stellenbosch].
"So, they will want to progress to the next round, no doubt. We are planning to go all out. We are not going to hold back."
Next Kaizer Chiefs Match!
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) April 14, 2023
??#NedbankCup 1/4 Final
??Royal AM vs. Kaizer Chiefs
??First Team
???Sunday 16 April 2023
??Chatsworth Stadium
??18h00
??SuperSport 202
??R60 - Ticketpro, Spar: https://t.co/nSBHeT3ji1#Amakhosi4Life #UnityInAction pic.twitter.com/qiaJ1B8BuU
EXPERIENCE THE KEY FOR ROYAL AM
Royal AM are banking on their vast experience to get past the record 13-time cup champions in Durban, with Happy Jele, Elias Pelembe, Thabo Matlaba and Ricardo Nascimento having won the Nedbank Cup five times between them.
John Maduka's side made it to the semifinals last term before being eliminated by eventual winners Mamelodi Sundowns, while they reached the last eight two years earlier where their run was ended by Bidvest Wits.
The KZN club knocked out Cape Town City 4-3 on penalties in the round of 32 and were taken to extra-time by Golden Arrows in the previous round before emerging 3-1 victors to book their place in the quarterfinals for the second year running.
Jele, who recently joined Thwihli Thwahla and made his debut against Stellenbosch in the league, is hopeful the team can use their wealth of experience to go all the way in the cup competition this time around.
"My experience of winning trophies will help the team. I am here and there are a few guys like Nascimento, Matlaba, [Mxolisi] Macuphu and others, who have won trophies in the past. That combined experience will be vital in our run-in the Nedbank Cup," the veteran defender said.
"With the experience I have, I want to help the other guys, so that they can believe that we can go through to the final and win this trophy.
"We [as the senior players who have tasted success before] must just make them (the players who've never tasted success in the past) believe that they are capable of winning this trophy."