Royal AM mentor John Maduka has insinuated that it’s unfair to claim Kaizer Chiefs are the biggest recipients of favourable referees’ decisions this season, albeit, they’ve braced themselves for any decisions that might favour Amakhosi in Sunday’s Nedbank Cup tie at Chatsworth Stadium (6pm).
“At the end of the day, you can’t blame Chiefs for playing with an advantage [of having an extra man] because the decisions are not made by them, they just go there and play the game. What’s for us is to focus because that happens in football whereby there can be red cards and penalties,” Maduka said during a media open-day at the club’s Royal Ranch base in Pietermaritzburg yesterday.
“We must be able to deal with that as professionals and our players should be ready mentally. If you want to go to the next round you should be prepared for anything. Anything [in reference to red cards and penalties in regulation time] can happen at anytime against any team, so we must be able to deal with that.”
Chiefs have been awarded more penalties (10) than any other team in the DStv Premiership this season. Amakhosi have also played with an extra man nine times, more than any other side in the league this season, after their opponents were reduced to 10 men.
The Royal coach thinks they’re under pressure to beat Chiefs since they lost 2-0 in their last meeting back in January in the DStv Premiership, likening all their clashes against Amakhosi to a final. Maduka also stressed the importance of not conceding in this Ke Yona cup quarterfinal clash.
“They [Chiefs] beat us in the league game the last time we played against them, so the pressure is on us. In order to win the game, we have to dig very, very deep because Chiefs are a good team, a very offensive team. Whenever we play against Chiefs it's like a cup final, so this one is no different, it’s a quarterfinal but it feels like a final,”' Maduka said.
“We haven’t kept a clean sheet in a while. In order for us to win against Kaizer Chiefs, we need to defend very, very well.”
Nedbank Cup quarterfinals fixtures
Saturday: Dondol v Pirates, Peter Mokaba (3pm); Stellenbosch v Sundowns, Athlone (6pm).
Sunday: Chippa v Sekhukhune, Mandela Bay (3pm); Royal v Chiefs, Chatsworth (6pm).
Royal AM braced for Chiefs, and referees
Maduka says keeping clean sheet will see them go to next round
Image: Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix
Royal AM mentor John Maduka has insinuated that it’s unfair to claim Kaizer Chiefs are the biggest recipients of favourable referees’ decisions this season, albeit, they’ve braced themselves for any decisions that might favour Amakhosi in Sunday’s Nedbank Cup tie at Chatsworth Stadium (6pm).
“At the end of the day, you can’t blame Chiefs for playing with an advantage [of having an extra man] because the decisions are not made by them, they just go there and play the game. What’s for us is to focus because that happens in football whereby there can be red cards and penalties,” Maduka said during a media open-day at the club’s Royal Ranch base in Pietermaritzburg yesterday.
“We must be able to deal with that as professionals and our players should be ready mentally. If you want to go to the next round you should be prepared for anything. Anything [in reference to red cards and penalties in regulation time] can happen at anytime against any team, so we must be able to deal with that.”
Chiefs have been awarded more penalties (10) than any other team in the DStv Premiership this season. Amakhosi have also played with an extra man nine times, more than any other side in the league this season, after their opponents were reduced to 10 men.
The Royal coach thinks they’re under pressure to beat Chiefs since they lost 2-0 in their last meeting back in January in the DStv Premiership, likening all their clashes against Amakhosi to a final. Maduka also stressed the importance of not conceding in this Ke Yona cup quarterfinal clash.
“They [Chiefs] beat us in the league game the last time we played against them, so the pressure is on us. In order to win the game, we have to dig very, very deep because Chiefs are a good team, a very offensive team. Whenever we play against Chiefs it's like a cup final, so this one is no different, it’s a quarterfinal but it feels like a final,”' Maduka said.
“We haven’t kept a clean sheet in a while. In order for us to win against Kaizer Chiefs, we need to defend very, very well.”
Nedbank Cup quarterfinals fixtures
Saturday: Dondol v Pirates, Peter Mokaba (3pm); Stellenbosch v Sundowns, Athlone (6pm).
Sunday: Chippa v Sekhukhune, Mandela Bay (3pm); Royal v Chiefs, Chatsworth (6pm).
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