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| Dipsy Selolwane © Backpagepix |
Ajax Cape Town must overcome a Free State Stars side hungry for success if they are to advance through to the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals. The beaten MTN8 and Telkom Knockout finalists host Ea Lla Koto at the Coetzenburg Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick off).
Both sides had an easy passage into the round of 16, Ajax beating Wings United 5-0 and Stars hammered Tower United 6-1; Sthembiso Ncgobo announcing his return to fitness and form with a hat-trick.
Ajax’s victory over Wings was a mere formality – but now the Cape side face a far tougher test.
On Tuesday night the Urban Warriors held their end-of-season awards function – normally a sign that a team is winding down.
The two games played between these two teams in the Absa Premiership have both been draws – a 1-1 stale-mate in Qwa Qwa and a 0-0 in Cape Town, while Ajax edged out Stars 3-2 in the Telkom Knockout.
Stars will certainly beg the question as to just how motivated Ajax are – will their Telkom Knockout loss to Kaizer Chiefs have motivated or demoralised them?
In their favour though, the Cape side are looking in stronger and stronger in attack – Stanton Lewis’ presence is really beginning to make a huge difference up front, while the return of Thulani Serero from national team duty has added another option.
Right winger Sameehg Doutie is also very close to the top of his game after having spent large portions of the season not delivering to his full potential – his two goals scored against Wings United in the previous round would have been a massive confidence booster and the youngster could play a key role.
Dipsy Selolwane has been an unsung hero for the team from a central midfield role, and the experienced former Botswana international concedes that Ajax can expect a really tough time against Ea Lla Koto.
“Cup games at this stage of the competition never come easy. I’ll admit that Stars are a good team and they will give us a tough time.
“We did at least beat them in the Telkom Knockout, but that won’t make our job easier. They are a hard running and physical side and we have to make sure we counter this by sticking to our normal game plan which is to play football,” says Selolwane.
Ajax are expected to be near to full strength, although midfielder Granwald Scott remains side-lined.
The Free State side will be hungry to gain revenge for the Telkom Knockout loss – not only that but the Nedbank Cup provides the team with a final chance to salvage something from what has been a disappointing season, having failed to make progress in any of the cup competitions and also finished in 13th spot on the league table.
Skipper Duncan Lechesa says his teammates feel its time they stepped up to the plate and delivered.
“We are happy to play Ajax – we feel it’s a fair draw in that we are equal to them. This is a game we must win – we owe it to ourselves, to management and to our fans to make them happy.
“Ajax are not a difficult team to beat and we are ready for them,” warned Lechesa.
The Free State side welcome back Paulus Masehe from suspension and have a full strength squad for the game.
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