EC BEES coach Chippa Njedu says they have nothing to lose in their Nedbank Cup clash against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria tonight.
Bees last season managed to reach the last 32 of the lucrative tournament where they lost to Orlando Pirates 3-1 at Sisa Dukashe Stadium. The fact that his men will be playing away this time around doesn’t seem to bother Njedu at all.
Instead the optimistic coach sounded psyched and ready for the task at hand.
“I’m excited as much as our boys are to play Sundowns, and everything is well prepared for this game and you can see by their attitude at training.
“We are ready in all aspects – mentally and physically to take on Downs, and there’s nothing we can complain about.
“There’s nothing much to say about this game, besides that we are going there to play our own game.
“And my approach is simple and straight forward – play our own game soccer, that’s it.”
Njedu said If they lose the game that was still acceptable because they did all the necessary preparations.
“We have managed to get rid of that mentality that we are playing ‘Sundowns’ because that’s just the name of the club and nothing more.
“In the field of play there’s just only 11 players, but then again we also want to win so we’ll fight for that win.
“Anyone could lose against Sundowns even the big teams like Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates, so for us there is no pressure. Hence I said we have nothing to lose against them.”
Despite going into the match as underdogs, Njedu wanted to keep his cards closer to his chest.
“I don’t want to give away the tactical formation I will use going into this game, even though it will be visible during game.
“And I don’t want to say I’m putting my hopes on so and so, because anyone we put in this game I’m confident they will do the job we require from them.
“And the nice thing is that we don’t have injuries besides the knocks that players get during league games,” said Njedu.
Njedu said he’s been watching Downs play but that’s as far as he went in terms of his preparations.
“I didn’t want to confuse myself including the boys, but we have been looking at the way they are playing – how they handle the ball, how they defend.
“But still I don’t want to compromise the way we play because of them, but it’s important to know how they play because that information will be useful during this game.
He said even though they will be facing a team with not many notable mistakes anything was possible on the pitch.
“We just need to stick to our defence and attacking plan and if they make mistakes then we’ll capitalise on them – we just need to stick to our plan and we’ll be fine,” said Njedu.
The Bees have been on their toes juggling the third-tier league and Nedbank Cup games, and they have managed to maintain third position on the log-standings with 40 points.
The game will be televised on SuperSport 4 at 7.30pm.
Bees to go for Downs’ jugular
Bees last season managed to reach the last 32 of the lucrative tournament where they lost to Orlando Pirates 3-1 at Sisa Dukashe Stadium. The fact that his men will be playing away this time around doesn’t seem to bother Njedu at all.
Instead the optimistic coach sounded psyched and ready for the task at hand.
“I’m excited as much as our boys are to play Sundowns, and everything is well prepared for this game and you can see by their attitude at training.
“We are ready in all aspects – mentally and physically to take on Downs, and there’s nothing we can complain about.
“There’s nothing much to say about this game, besides that we are going there to play our own game.
“And my approach is simple and straight forward – play our own game soccer, that’s it.”
Njedu said If they lose the game that was still acceptable because they did all the necessary preparations.
“We have managed to get rid of that mentality that we are playing ‘Sundowns’ because that’s just the name of the club and nothing more.
“In the field of play there’s just only 11 players, but then again we also want to win so we’ll fight for that win.
“Anyone could lose against Sundowns even the big teams like Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates, so for us there is no pressure. Hence I said we have nothing to lose against them.”
Despite going into the match as underdogs, Njedu wanted to keep his cards closer to his chest.
“I don’t want to give away the tactical formation I will use going into this game, even though it will be visible during game.
“And I don’t want to say I’m putting my hopes on so and so, because anyone we put in this game I’m confident they will do the job we require from them.
“And the nice thing is that we don’t have injuries besides the knocks that players get during league games,” said Njedu.
Njedu said he’s been watching Downs play but that’s as far as he went in terms of his preparations.
“I didn’t want to confuse myself including the boys, but we have been looking at the way they are playing – how they handle the ball, how they defend.
“But still I don’t want to compromise the way we play because of them, but it’s important to know how they play because that information will be useful during this game.
He said even though they will be facing a team with not many notable mistakes anything was possible on the pitch.
“We just need to stick to our defence and attacking plan and if they make mistakes then we’ll capitalise on them – we just need to stick to our plan and we’ll be fine,” said Njedu.
The Bees have been on their toes juggling the third-tier league and Nedbank Cup games, and they have managed to maintain third position on the log-standings with 40 points.
The game will be televised on SuperSport 4 at 7.30pm.
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