Former Lokomotiv Moscow manager Fadlu Davids Davids has returned to Maritzburg United for another spell.
- Kaizer Chiefs travel to KwaZulu-Natal on Friday for a Nedbank Cup round of 16 clash against Maritzburg United.
- Fadlu Davids expressed that the Harry Gwala Stadium is a unique ground for the home team, especially if they play on Friday nights.
- The former Orlando Pirates manager believes it will be an end-to-end game despite his charges fighting to avoid relegation in the Premiership.
Maritzburg United head coach Fadlu Davids has warned Kaizer Chiefs about playing Friday nights at the Harry Gwala Stadium.
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The Team of Choice is well known in the South African soccer fraternity, especially during Davids’ first spell as manager, for their record Friday night against away teams, which would in most cases leave Pietermaritzburg beaten.
“We had a good record when we played on Friday nights the last time I was here,” Davids said during the KwaZulu-Natal Nedbank Cup press conference.
“We created a kind of invincibility when we played on Friday nights at Harry Gwala, but obviously we’ve lost that record in recent years. And we have to get it back one more time.”
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The 12,000 capacity Harry Gwala Stadium will be packed on Friday, with Amakhosi visiting and looking to advance from the Nedbank Cup round of 32.
Despite Davids’ focus on wanting to stop Maritzburg’s relegation from the DStv Premiership (they are 15th in the league standings), he vowed that his team has no intention of giving the Chiefs a bye to the last 16.
“It’s a very good team, I don’t think we should take away what coach Arthur Zwane has done.
“Friday nights at home are normally an occasion in themselves, but the arrival of the Chiefs raises the stakes even higher.
“We expect both teams to meet because we want to win the game, and that’s always our approach to games. And the Chiefs will probably focus on this tournament more than any other.”
The former Orlando Pirates co-coach added: “This is the competition that [Chiefs] They will really focus on you as they are playing for cutlery.
“They will play to win, so you can expect an end-to-end game where both teams will play for the result.
“I don’t think there’s a team that will sit back and try to absorb the pressure or hold on for a draw. We’re not playing extra time, we’ll try to win the game…so it’s going to be an interesting game.” match.”
The start is at 19:30.
