Posted on November 02, 2011 08:25
Stanley Kgatla, a new man in the ‘Usuthu’ camp will get his first feel of the KZN derby when AmaZulu meet Golden Arrows on a bottom of the log clash on Wednesday at the King Zwelithini Stadium.
The former Platinum Stars midfielder told AmaZulufc.net of his burning desire to see the Dr Patrick Sokhela owned club getting into gear after having sealed a positive win over the weekend.
“I think Wednesday’s game is going to be a difficult one. Arrows now have a new coach and they haven’t yet delivered since he arrived.
“On our side at AmaZulu I think the spirit is high now, the only thing that that we want is three points now. But it’s not going to be easy.
“Especially when you play a team that lost their last game, it’s not easy at all,” said the Tzaneen born player.
Coach Roger Palmgren’s pairing of Zimbabwean Ramson Zhuwawo and Kgatla injected life in the AmaZulu midfield in the 2-0 home defeat of Bloemfontein Celtic. A much more resurgent Mushin Ertugral side plus new signing Elrio van Heerden if fielded will make for a tougher match.
Arrows have had an indifferent result of late having lost 3-1 against Free State Stars and drawn one league game in the past two league matches.
AmaZulu’s Swedish mentor has elected not to dwell much on past encounters between the two but is aware of the potential threat their neigbours possess.
“For me it’s about concentrating, it’s a little bit easier with the momentum now. I still believe that it is important to respect the opponent in the form of studying them as much as possible and we have been studying them.
"So we are aware of their strengths and weaknesses but we have our game plan.
I know we have a bad record when playing against Arrows, I actually don’t care about the past but I want to continue taking it game by game,” said Palmgren.
"Defender and vice captain Bukasa Kasonga shares the coach’s’ sentiments and warns against complacency.
“We have to do our best to pull our socks from now on so we don’t look back. If we do that then perhaps the game can bring us three points,” said the experienced DRC international.
Kagtla is counting on experience,” for tomorrow’s one it’s difficult to predict there won’t be much difference from other matches but it’s a derby - I don’t think because it’s their home game they will have any advantage.
"It’s going to be a good match for the supporters. I can’t talk much about Arrows because most of the players that are there I played against them long time ago. So they’ve got the got the experience and we also have the experience. It’s going to be a nice game."
Last season the Lamontville side won back to back derbies and has eight wins while AmaZulu have just four wins since the 2001/02 season.
Match Details
Golden Arrows vs AmaZulu
Date: 02 November 2011, Wednesday
Kickoff: 19:30
Venue: King Zwelithini Stadium