CAPE TOWN – It’s a massive week for rookie National First Division (NFD) side Ubuntu Cape Town.
While they’ve garnered much-needed exposure for the club in recent weeks, their future could well hinge on how they perform over the next seven days.
Today, Ubuntu take their place in the quarter-finals of the Nedbank Cup when they host PSL side Free State Stars at Athlone Stadium (3.30pm kick-off).
On Tuesday, they are back in league action against high-riding Real Kings and then next Saturday, they have another tricky league fixture against Super Eagles.
At the moment, Ubuntu are not looking too healthy on the NFD standings – second-from-bottom – and because of that, coach Casey Prince admits he has to box carefully.
While they want to continue their fairy-tale run in the Cup competition, their precarious league position has to be taken into consideration too.
“We are excited about the Cup quarter-final, but we have to play three games in a week,” said Prince.
“As coaches, we will have to manage and motivate, and make sure that the players are focused. It’s obvious that we will have to use multiple players over the next week, and selection will be important.
“But we are confident and we are ready to give our best.”
Ubuntu sprang to prominence after beating PSL teams Polokwane City and AmaZulu in previous rounds of the competition. Now they are keen to dispatch of one more top-flight club when they take on the in-form Free Staters.
“We’ve watched plenty of their (Stars) games and it’s clear that they run hard and play a direct brand of football,” said Prince.
“They play a little differently to Polokwane and AmaZulu - they’re a bit like the teams in the NFD, just a far better version.
“We have been making progress as a club, but what is going to be important is how we respond.
“We’ve had a frustrating season. We didn’t start well, until we finally got it going in the second half of the season. We have been a bit unlucky, in that we’ve given away quite a lot of points.
“But I’ve always believed that we have to earn our own luck – we have to focus on the positives and cause things to happen. I think we are getting there and the players are starting to believe in themselves.”