AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco Martin is expecting a big win from his side when they face lowly Richards Bay on Tuesday.
Usuthu haven’t enjoyed their most productive season in the DStv Premiership and currently sit in 11th place on the standings with just seven wins from their 25 games played.
A win though could lift the club into the top eight, with four matches of the season left, having come through a tricky test with Chippa United at the weekend, where they emerged as 2-1 winners.
Richards Bay are fighting for their top-flight survival, in 15th spot, and after recording two important recent victories, over Moroka Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs, they were most recently undone in a relegation six-pointer with bottom-side Cape Town Spurs.
Speaking ahead of the midweek encounter, Martin explained that his players cannot afford to show any mercy to their rivals as they look to dominate their local opponents.
He explained in the Sowetan: “We are here to do favours to ourselves. We are not going to give favours to anyone else. My players are already motivated without me saying anything because this is a derby. I hope the players will show the same character they showed against Chippa when we play this derby.
“Last season we played eight derbies and we got four draws and lost four times. This season we’ve won four derbies already and drew two, so right now we are the best team in KZN and that’s something very important for the club, for the president and for the fans. It’s a matter of pride. For me to finish higher than any KZN team is the first step to go for even greater things.”
Franco added that his only concern is that the Natal Rich Boys will be fresher than his team.
“What I don’t like is that our opponent (Bay) played on Friday and we played on Saturday,” the coach stated.
“We didn’t have enough time to prepare because the schedule is so tight and this can make the game imbalanced. We are not going to have that freshness because we couldn’t prepare as well as we’d have liked.”