DURBAN AmaZulu captain Tapuwa Kapini is not in a very generous mood ahead of his teams Nedbank Cup last 16 encounter against Witbank Spurs.
Kapini wants to see a hammering when Witbank Spurs visit the Moses Mabhida Stadium today. The Usuthu have found goals difficult to come by all season, especially in the Premiership, where their 18 goals from 20 games make them the second lowest scorers behind basement club Jomo Cosmos.
Apart from their goal drought, it has not been the best of seasons so far for the Durban club, who were set a mandate at the start of the campaign to challenge for a top-four league spot they are presently ninth and enjoy a strong run in one of the cups.
They were first round casualties in the Telkom Knockout and beat Ajax Cape Town on penalties in the current competition.
This is an opportunity for us, Kapini said on Thursday.
Its in our hands and we can go far if the guys really put their heads to it and show a strong desire to succeed.
They have to show that hunger by hammering Witbank Spurs here at home.
The Zimbabwean, though, conceded it would not be as straightforward as it seemed, despite earning one of the easier draws against the National First Division (NFD) strugglers.
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Its not going to be easy because were playing a team that we dont know too much about, he said. When you play against Premiership teams you know them inside out.
This team presents a different challenge and well have to be on our toes in what will be a very tough game.
AmaZulu won an epic encounter against the Urban Warriors last week when they came through 4-3 on penalties after the match was tied 3-3 after 120 minutes.
Goalkeeper Kapini, who is also his nations captain, described that match as one of his best in an AmaZulu jersey.
There was so much drama because we were down 2-0 and then down 3-2 again and came back, he revealed.
The courage of the boys was exceptional and hopefully its something we can now use to spur us on in this competition.
Coach Roger Palmgren had plenty of problems ahead of the game after Kagiso Senamela and Belux Kasonga picked up their third yellow cards over the weekend and would be suspended, while Thamsanqa Teyise (hamstring) and Stanley Kgatla (knee) were also expected to miss out.
Whoever plays, Im sure will fill in adequately, Kapini added.
Assessing their opponents, the former Platinum Stars custodian, concluded: I think their strength is Ralph Matema, they will be searching for him constantly up front as he is their target man.
Matema and Kapini played together at Highlanders in Zimbabwe, winning the league title in 2006.
Their wing play is also excellent, but I dont feel they are very strong on defence. We need to put pressure on that area and use it as a weakness.
