Cape Town City have to maintain unbeaten run against Kaizer Chiefs – Benni McCarthy

Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy has called for consistency from his men as they get ready to face Kaizer Chiefs at home in their fourth Premier Soccer League (PSL) match on Tuesday.

Fresh from a 1-1 draw at reigning PSL champions Mamelodi Sundowns, McCarthy has taken a lot of positives from the stalemate and demands the same application against coach Ernst Middendorp’s troops.

With both sides enjoying an unbeaten run in the league so far, the former striker has also praised Amakhosi’s players, such as Lebogang Manyama, but feels his side need secure their first victory at Newlands Stadium.

“You can’t play Chiefs at a better time especially after the performance against Sundowns, it was very promising and there were a lot of positives,” McCarthy told the media on Monday.

“There is a lot of good stuff to take from and I think we want to put one right here at this stadium because the last performance didn’t go accordingly.

‘It was not our best performance [against Polokwane City in the MTN8] but I am sure here the highs that we come from in the game against Sundowns we are prepared for Chiefs.

“I hope all the job that we have done is finished and now the players can go out there and enjoy themselves, play the way we know they can so that we can do something positive and keep the momentum of being unbeaten so far in the season.

“So are Chiefs, they are also unbeaten and it makes for a good game of football.”

Speaking about what he expects from the Soweto giants, the Citizens boss explained that because Chiefs are an attacking team, he expects the same tempo just like the game against the Brazilians.

“I am expecting consistency from my side, I’m always challenging the players to be as good as their last game,” continued McCarthy.

“Chiefs are a very attacking-minded team and their players are finding their peak form at the right time. Manyama is looking like his old self again which is lovely to see because he is a nice kid, good boy and he is over his injury woes.

“It’s nice to see Lebo back to his form and doing what he does best for Amakhosi.

“[Bernard] Parker is now shifted from being a striker to the midfield and it seems to work well for him and George [Maluleka] is also back, they’ve got a nice rotation of players in the midfield, ball-playing players and like us.”

However, the former Ajax Amsterdam striker also boasts a star-studded midfield, and he is relishing to watch the battle between Maluleka, Abbubaker Mobara and Thato Mokeke.

“It’s going to make for interesting reading with Thato Mokeke, [Abubaker] Mobara and Mpho Makola against Maluleka, Manyama, and Parker, the former Porto frontman predicted.

“Six footballing players in the middle of the park will be interesting to watch and I think a team that gets to dominate the midfield will enjoy more success going forward.

“Chiefs is looking great and so did we against Sundowns, we are looking to build on that and it’s not going to be an easy game.

“If you look at the previous matches against Chiefs, the reading doesn’t look good for us and it’s something we have to try and rectify.”