Gallants will travel to Durban this weekend for their all-important Nedbank Cup quarter-final against the team formerly known as Maritzburg United.

It will be a tricky encounter for the relegation-threatened Gallants, as Durban City currently top the National First Division and are looking strongly for promotion back to the PSL.

Gallants head coach, Abdes Ouaddou, told OFM Sport that his team needs to be mentally prepared for the knockout clash.

“Yes, I agree with you – it’s a tricky team, and like I told the players, we have to respect all our opponents,” said Ouaddou.

“There are no easy games, especially in a cup competition. When you play a team that is leading the lower division, they come with great spirit and a strong desire to beat you. So we have to prepare for that.

“We will field the strongest possible team to ensure we progress to the next stage.”

Daniel Zindoga. Photo: Morgan Piek

While Gallants suffered a 1-0 defeat to Stellenbosch FC in the league on Tuesday night, Ouaddou prefers to focus on the positives as they fine-tune their approach for the upcoming match.

“I always start with the positives – we have to maintain this fighting spirit and unity. It’s very important and will help us.

“But I think we still need to improve our concentration. As you saw against Stellenbosch, we played a strong game, but a lapse in concentration cost us that goal. That cannot happen.

Improve final third

“We also have to improve in the final third – we need to score goals and be more clinical in the box.”

The new Gallants striker, Junior Zindoga, who scored the winning goal against AmaZulu in the Round of 16 tie, is a former Maritzburg United player and he has been able to share some insight about his former club.

Sunday’s quarter-final at Chatsworth Stadium in Durban kicks off at 15:00.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg