Casric Stars coach relishes underdog tag ahead of Pirates tie | OneFootball

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Casric boss welcomes underdog tag for Bucs clash

Photo: Grant Pitcher/ Gallo Images

Casric Stars head coach Bucs Mthombeni has embraced the underdog tag bestowed on his side ahead of their Nedbank Cup Round of 16 clash against Orlando Pirates on Saturday (18h00).

The Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit faces an uphill battle in their bid to seal progression to the quarter-final at the expense of the Buccaneers at the Orlando Amstel Arena.

Mthombeni, who is also the club's Chairman, relishes being outsiders for the match, and explained what winning the Nedbank Cup would mean for the team.

“I think the brand would grow massively, we can also be able to attract sponsors because sponsors don't pay attention to Motsepe Foundation Champions teams, they focus on Betway Premiership teams,” he said.

"Our support base would also grow. But we don't want to go to Orlando under unnecessary pressure, we are going there to play a game, it's going to be a beautiful match. We know that Pirates score a lot of goals, we understand that.

"But it's nice playing a football match as an underdog, you don't have much pressure. I think the province would be happy if we have a good performance because we only have one team from Mpumalanga in the Betway Premiership. If we play well, we can attract many supporters and we have a big fanbase at home and they are coming, you will see them.

Though he welcomes the underdog tag as it takes pressure from his troops, the Casric boss is aware of the threat posed by the Soweto giants.

“We know that Pirates is on form now, the good thing about us is that we are going to face a team that's on form. I think I was checking the previous record of Pirates, I think they went almost more than eight games without conceding a goal. I think they only conceded yesterday [Wednesday],” Mthombeni added.

"I think they defend defend very well, and we know that Pirates is a team that plays transition football. Whenever you are playing against Pirates you need to prepare properly, but we are ready for the game, we are coming here to give a fight.