KO double-header irks Usuthu coach

AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco has slammed the Premier Soccer League (PSL) for staging the double-header Carling Knockout quarterfinals at Moses Mabhida Stadium tomorrow.

Bay and Orlando Pirates will kick off their match at 3pm, while AmaZulu and Golden Arrows will clash at 7pm at the same venue tomorrow.

While many would love to watch the double header, that is not the case for Franco as he feels the PSL is taking their advantage.

Franco, whose side will play in the second match, feels the quality of the pitch will not be up to standard by the time they play and that he doesn’t like it.

“I don’t like it. There is a clear disadvantage because we cannot use our facilities properly,” Franco told the media on Wednesday.

“We are supposed to play on our pitch, and train on it and I don’t know yet if we are going to be able to train a day before, which is a huge disadvantage.

“It’s a huge advantage because we are camping in the venue, we have our lunch there and our prematch meeting there.

“We need to change the scenario now and let’s see what will happen in the dressing room because the kind of game we want to play won’t be possible because the pitch probably won’t be in good conditions.

“But it is what it is. In any of the circumstances, we are going to be competitive because we have already faced a lot of difficulties before with Pirates and Chippa United.”

Franco said this is an opportunity for them to go all the way to the final.

“That's a fact and also a fact that we are performing really well and we are excited to play a quarterfinal and an opportunity to reach the semifinal in the knockout competitions,” he said.

“That means we have a good chance to win something. We are here for achievement and we have a complete week to try to bring back some of the injured players, so we are looking forward to it.”