Marumo Gallants coach Dan Malesela expects an improved performance from his side when they take on Stellenbosch FC in the quarter-finals of the Carling Knockout cup at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium today (3pm kick-off).
A Thabo Moloisane 76th minute header separated the two sides in their Betway Premiership match on Thursday, and psychologically, it will be advantage to Stellies.
Bahlabane Ba Ntwa will have it all to do against the defending champions, and they will hope to have their coach (Malesela) back on the bench after missing the clash in the Cape due to health reasons, with Duncan Lechesa stepping up in his absence.
The match had a few chances between the two halves, and Stellies were able to hold their nerve, and they walked away with three points.
Asked if he will make the bench today, Malesela said he hoped that would be the case as he is still getting better.
But looking ahead to the match, Malesela believes his side could have done better on the night, and they need to come with an improved showing against a solid Stellies side today.
“We played out of character, and it was very surprising; we made too many mistakes for the standards that we set for ourselves; I’m struggling to understand what went wrong.” Malesela told.
He further added, “Stellies are a ball-playing side, and they push for goals, but we are also like that. This was one of the few games we did not score at least one goal, and we are just going to try and correct what we did wrong.
“We will make a few personnel changes here and there for the upcoming match.”
Gallants upset Polokwane City by beating them 3-2 in the first round of the competition. They twice had to comeback from being a goal down and ultimately scored the winning goal from the boot of Edgar Manaka in the 40th minute of the first half.
Malesela went on to say that his team will take positives from that win, and they will also adapt to match situations, including possibilities for the game to go beyond 90 minutes.
“We had the drive to want to score goals in that game, and we played the match as a cup match. In cup matches, you don’t want to wait for too long to get the result because you’ll find yourself in trouble.
“We will try as much as possible to win the match in normal time, but also if the penalties come, we’ll be ready.”
Elsewhere, TS Galaxy will get a chance to revive their season when they welcome impressive Magesi FC at the Mbombela Stadium today (3pm kick-off).
Sead Ramovic and his troops have found the 2024/25 season a little tougher than last season, and they face an in-form Magesi side that is high in confidence after narrowly missing out on a victory in the league. Magesi drew against Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday to back up their 3-2 victory against Orlando Pirates in the first round of the Carling KO.
The Rockets are last on the log, and they have lost four of their five matches since the start of the season. The cup tie against Magesi could offer a golden chance to secure silverware and get the much-needed momentum into their season.