AmaZulu midfielder George Maluleka has spoken on the pressure his side will face against Dondol Stars FC in the Nedbank Cup round of 16, on Wednesday.
Usuthu are coming off an impressive 2-0 win against Chippa United in Gqeberha, and will be looking to make it two wins in a row against their lower league opponents.
Maluleka believes that with their opponents coming from the lower league, Usuthu will be under pressure to protect their pedigree.
“Dondol is not going to be an easy opponent. We’ve seen a couple of clips of them, and also from their match against SuperSport (United) and we saw that they are not scared of playing. It’s going to be an interesting one, but I think if we can just apply ourselves and approach the game without undermining our opposition then we should be able to pull through,” said Maluleka, speaking through AmaZulu’s media department.
“We are aware of the history of the tournament, David and Goliath. I don’t think we should have that in mind. The approach should be just like any other game, not undermining anyone but respecting the opposition but also showing them that we are just as capable and why we are also playing in the top tier. There’s a lot of things to consider but yes being wary of them being a smaller team and having nothing to lose. They can be more expressive which puts us under more pressure. We just need to apply ourselves and give it our all and I don’t think we should have any problems,” the ex-Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns star added.
The Premier Soccer League has since announced that the round of 16 clash, originally scheduled for TUT Stadium, has been moved to FNB Stadium due to student protests.
“The venue change was necessitated by the student protest action at the Tshwane University of Technology campus which began earlier this week,” the League said in a press release.
AmaZulu will be looking to make the most of the opportunity and progress to the next round of the Nedbank Cup, as they aim to end their season on a high.
