AmaZulu FC head coach Pablo Franco Martin has voiced out his two concerns ahead of their meeting with the DStv Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
The two sides will face off in a league clash on Wednesday, 6 December at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi.
Usuthu, who recently lost in the Carling Knockout Cup semi-final to TS Galaxy, will be looking to bounce back having suffered two defeats on the trot. Before the Rockets’ defeat, they were overpowered by Stellenbosch FC in a league match a week ago.
Martin isn’t happy that the match against Masandawana was moved to King Zwelithini, which isn’t their usual home venue.
He’s also worried that they won’t have enough time to prepare as they played on Sunday. In addition, he says they don’t have sufficient squad depth to make rotations for the upcoming match.
PABLO FRANCO IS WORRIED ABOUT PREPARATIONS AND VENUE FOR MAMELODI SUNDOWNS CLASH
“It’s a pity that we are playing as a local team, not in our stadium,” said Martin.
“But also looking at the situation of the stadium [Moses Mabhida] right now, I don’t mind because I prefer to play in better conditions. It’s a pity that we need to come and play the last two games [before AFCON] in these conditions.
“I think this needs to be solved. But from there, as we play Sundowns I don’t have anything special to say from my side in terms of motivation.
“The issue is that we are not going to be able to prepare, we don’t have many options [in the squad] in terms of rotating players in some positions. From there, we need to be able to know that we are playing for the future.
“If we all want to play like last season, being in the position eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve and maybe not do well and drop until start looking at relegation and be afraid, maybe it would happen if we’re not focused.
“We are willing to at least fight for the top eight and be a consistent team and wait for the January transfer window and get some signings to strengthen the team.”
RELATED STORY: Why Franco Martin rejected SA teams before signing with AmaZulu FC
