Bidvest Wits will be aiming to become the first team to qualify for this season’s Nedbank Cup semifinals when they take on Real Kings at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Clermont on Friday evening.
Kick-off is at 8pm CAT.
Kings earned their place in the final eight following victories over Steenberg United (preliminaries), Passion FC (last-32) and Mbombela United (last-16), with Lesvin Stoffels and Diego Brown scoring the goals in their most recent win.
The KwaZulu-Natal club head into this weekend's fixture in good form: three games unbeaten across all competitions and a 1-0 win against Jomo Cosmos in the GladAfrica Championship last weekend.
Kings head coach Mike Lukhubeni is confident his troops can carry that form into Friday's quarterfinal fixture against their more-fancied opponents as they eye a cup upset.
“I have no doubt that we will pull through. We are going to surprise a lot of people on Friday," said Lukhubeni.
“It is very important to do well at home. When I’m playing at home, you can’t beat me at my house. I can’t run to the neighbour, I have to protect my house. I can’t just run and ask the neighbours to help me. I need to stand and fight for myself. Bidvest Wits are coming into our house. They must feel the pain,” he concluded.
BWFC had to overcome successive top-flight opponents in this season's competition thus far. Gavin Hunt's troops first got the better of Orlando Pirates via penalties (after a thrilling 3-3 draw in the round of 32), before goals from Thulani Hlatshwayo and Phatutshedzo Nange saw them past Chippa United 2-0 (in the last-16).
Gift Motupa made a return from injury this week and the forward is likely to play some part in Clermont as Bidvest Wits eye a place in the final four. He was quick to dismiss the club's favourites tag in what he expects to be a tightly contested clash.
“This is another match and we will be handling the team in front of us, as we do with the other teams we play,” said Motupa.
“We expect a super onslaught from them. There are no easy draws, as each team plays to win and go through to the next round.
“We have seen some footage of them and they are a good team. They would not be here if they didn’t play well, so it's going to be a huge game for us.
“We will prepare to the best of our ability. They also have the advantage of playing in front of their home crowd, so it is going to be a difficult game," he concluded.
The Clever Boys are chasing a first appearance in the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup since the 2013-14 season, when they reached the final and were eventually beaten 3-1 by Orlando Pirates.
BWFC head into the clash on the back of a 1-0 win over Black Leopards in a midweek league clash, with Terrence Dzvukamanja netting the only goal of the game.
Head-to-head statistics:
This will be a first competitive meeting between Real Kings and Bidvest Wits. The winners will advance to the Nedbank Cup semifinals, which are set to be played on the weekend of April 18-19.
Players suspended for the clash:
Deon Hotto (Bidvest Wits)
Sameehg Doutie (Bidvest Wits)
Ricardo Goss (Bidvest Wits)