Durban — Royal AM defender Thato Lingwati has revealed that he and his teammates have set themselves a target of maximum points as they step up preparations for a serial grudge match against Sekhukhune United.
The two sides will reignite a long-standing rivalry that began when they were still in the second tier of South African football.
Thwihli Thwahla will play hosts this time around when the sides meet at the Chatsworth Stadium on Saturday at 5.45pm.
Lingwati, who has been in and out of the starting 11 due to injury, believes that the clash against Babina Noko is an opportunity to not only rewrite the wrongs of their previous draw with AmaZulu but also to get themselves back to winning ways.
“We made the previous game tough. For me, it was an easy game for us to win but we just made it tough, coupled with individual mistakes here and there, but I think we can improve on that and try to kill the game as early as possible,” he expressed.
He then added: “It’s gonna be a tough one (against Sekhukhune) because of where we’ve come from in the NFD and they’ve been always fighting so it’s gonna be a big game and we’re hoping to get maximum points since we’re playing at home.
“We need them (the points) because we haven’t won a game since we played Golden Arrows (February 2) so we just need to pick up more points so we can find ourselves in a better position.”
The hosts will head into this encounter with a certain degree of confidence considering they beat Sekhukhune two out of the three times they’ve met in the top flight.
John Maduka and his charges will also be rubbing their hands at the prospect of leapfrogging Sekhukhune up to sixth place on the DStv Premiership standings if they emerge victorious.
However, Babina Noko coach Brandon Truter will return to the province with a wealth of knowledge with regard to their next opponents, having been at the helm of AmaZulu in provincial bragging rights battles in the past.
Truter has expressed his joy at having a full squad to pick from but pointed out key elements in preparation for their visit to KwaZulu-Natal.
“Luckily and thankfully for us, we have a full squad to pick from with a number of players training very well and knocking on the door to make the match day squad and with that quality and intensity, a coach can’t ask for more,” he said.
“Considering our last result, we would’ve wanted three points but going to KZN, against Royal AM on that pitch, it’s going to be tough so we have to be really selective on our approach and tactics on the day.”
IOL Sport