Johannesburg - AmaZulu coach Romain Folz has bemoaned the interruption of the Nedbank Cup amid a decent spell of form in the league.
Usuthu are set to welcome ABC Motsepe League side Tornado FC in the last 32 of the prestigious cup at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday at 3:30 pm.
The KwaZulu Natal-based club continue their fight to finish in the top four of the DStv premiership and have managed three draws, a victory and a draw in their last five outings.
AmaZulu currently occupies sixth place and are four points behind fourth-placed Orlando Pirates on the league standings.
Folz, who took over from coach Brandon Truter in the latter stages of last year believes that it may not be reflected in their recent set of results but his side are enjoying a good run of form.
He also stated that he would've preferred to continue with their league expeditions rather than have to refocus on a cup match.
“Honestly I would’ve preferred to continue with the league because I think we are in a good spell mentally,” he told IOL Sports.
He then added: “We can argue about the results but I personally don’t think they’re that bad if you consider the context of the game themselves, the Richards Bay game we should’ve won, we dominated the Maritzburg game in terms of possession and shots and that was quite impressive for an away game.”
“So we can definitely argue the results because the performances don’t match what the results could’ve turned out to but I would’ve preferred to continue with the league knowing the kind of mentality we’re in at the moment.”
The 32-year-old mentor also revealed that even with the change in competition, he expects the same level of competency from his men.
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“I don’t make alterations in terms of mentality and approach to games based on mentality because there's a problem when you start undermining or overhyping opponents.”
Pule Ekstein has become one of Folz’s most trusted men in recent games and was integral as Usuthu rescued an away point in Pietermaritzburg.
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The 32-year-old midfielder, who started his career in the Northern Cape shared more insight into their opponents.
“I’m from there and I know everything so the Tornado players are motivated and they can’t wait to play against us because they’re going to be playing a PSL team so they’ve been ready since the fixture came out and will come out guns blazing,” said Ekstein.
IOL Sport