SUPERSPORT United head coach Eric Tinkler is fully aware of what to expect when his charges lock horns with the Ke Yona Team at Makhulong Stadium on Sunday (3pm).
This won’t be the first time the 47-year-old coach plays against the makeshift team made up of players from across the country.
Tinkler defeated the Ke Yona Team 2-0 at Orlando Stadium while still at Orlando Pirates in 2014.
Looking ahead at this weekend’s clash, the former Cape Town City FC coach has promised that he won’t take this game lightly and will be fielding a regular first team squad.
“We are playing against the unknown, obviously they are extremely hungry,” said Tinkler. “They want to achieve things and all want to be the next Aubrey Modiba at our expense. They will come highly motivated.”
Matsatsantsa a Pitori are facing the Ke Yona Team for the second time in a row after becoming the first team to successfully defend their Nedbank Cup title. They defeated the Ke Yona Team 1-0 last year.
Since the inception of this initiative the Ke Yona Team has never beaten any of the Nedbank Cup champions, and it is unlikely to happen this year either, if Tinkler has any say.
Among the players Tinkler is set to throw in against the Ke Yona Team are Modiba, Teboho Mokoena, Grant Kekana and Sipho Mbule.
Ke Yona Team coaches Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba, Owen Da Gama, Khabo Zondo and Mike Mangena are unfazed and positive their players will do the unexpected.
Da Gama said: “We never look back. We always focus on the future. We were just building confidence in the past years – now we can do it.”