Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images

John Goliath

AJAX CAPE TOWN coach Maarten Stekelenburg is not really worried about Orlando Pirates’ spending spree during the January transfer window as “they can still only field eleven players at one time”.

Pirates were busy last month securing the services of several stars, including former Arsenal and West Ham forward Luis Boa Morte and Wits winger Sifiso Myeni.

As is their policy to give youngsters a chance, Ajax have promoted two starlets from their Vodacom side, Toriq Losper and Kyle Peters, as well as winger Clint Julius, who also came through the Ajax ranks, but spent time at various First Division clubs.

The Urban Warriors’ only signing from outside South Africa is Nigerian striker George Akpabio, who is seemingly a replacement for Angolan Antonio Correia, who didn’t quite settle in the Cape.

“When I got to the office this morning, everybody was talking about the signings. My first reaction was everybody can still only play with eleven players. They are not allowed to play with 14 players, even if they make many signings,” Stekelenburg said.

“It’s about the 11 players on the park. I think we have a good quality squad, and we can bring a group of 18 players to the stadium who can compete with any team in the PSL.

“We have got a mix between experienced players and young talented players, and we are confident that we can do well in the second half of the season. If you see the gap between us and the top of the league, it’s not so big and we believe we didn’t have a good first part of the season,” the Dutch coach added.

And Stekelenburg is right, they haven’t had a good first half of the season, although they did end off with wins in their last three matches. And the players only had a two-week break before reporting back for duty on January 9. Ajax also had a five-day training camp in Johannesburg, which the coach feels will help the team hit the ground running when they kick off the second half of the season against Platinum Stars on February 15.

Ajax will further prepare for the Stars clash with a mini-tournament also featuring Santos and two Zambian teams at Athlone Stadium this weekend.

FRIENDLY FIXTURES

Today: Santos v Red Arrows (4pm), Ajax Cape Town v Zesco United (6pm). Sunday: Santos v Zesco United (1pm), Ajax Cape Town v Red Arrows (3pm).