Top four, Cup are Maduka’s priorities

Royal AM coach John Maduka has set his sights on Nedbank Cup glory and a top-four finish.

Having left Royal unceremoniously to join cross-town rivals Maritzburg United in the off season, Maduka returned two weeks ago. Thwihli Thwahla booked their berth in the Nedbank Cup last 16 by beating Cape Town City 4-3 on penalties, in what was Maduka’s second game since returning to the side, in the Mother City on Sunday.

Royal beat Arrows 2-1 in Maduka’s first game of the season late last month. Royal keeper Hugo Nyame saved two penalties taken by Lorenzo Gordinho and Khanyisa Mayo to help the KZN side progress to the last 16. Maduka is targeting the Ke Yona trophy while he also fancies their chances to finish in the top-four in the league.

“We are an ambitious team. We strongly believe that given the squad and the supportive management we have, we will be able to take the team back to where it belongs. The Nedbank Cup is a competition we would love to win. We tried to win it last season but we lost to Sundowns in the semifinals, so this time we are aiming to go all the way. In the league, if we can be in the top-four, I think we would have achieved our goal,” Maduka said.

The Royal trainer also provided an update on veteran defender Happy Jele, who joined the club as a free-agent a few weeks ago. Jele has not played a competitive game since featuring in Orlando Pirates’ last league game of the previous campaign against SuperSport United on May 30 last year.

“He’s still training with the team, he wasn’t playing, so it’s not easy. At this time of the season, it is very difficult to play friendly matches because that is where he can get some match fitness, but he is an experienced player. So, we hope everything goes according to plan… if we can have him, we must have him,” Maduka said.