MOTSEPE Foundation Championship side Milford FC are raring to go at the prospect of eliminating Kaizer Chiefs from the Nedbank Cup.
The two teams will meet for the first time in the last 32 of the Ke Yona competition at the FNB Stadium on Sunday at 3pm.
The KwaZulu Natal-based outfit is in its first season in the second tier of South African football after being regular competitors in the ABC Motsepe League for a number of years.
Although struggling near the bottom of their standings, Milford have an opportunity to go toe to toe with one of the biggest clubs in the country.
The Glamour Boys have been on the wrong end of a number of shock results in the Nedbank Cup.
According to the club’s head coach Nkululeko Buthelezi, his players have a different glimmer in their eyes this week.
He feels the players are the most eager out of every department at the club and believes his team will fight until the death against Amakhosi.
“What I can say is the people most excited about this match are the players more than us (technical team and management) with regards to playing Chiefs. I think they’ll do everything in their power to ensure they beat them because they’re more fired up.
He joked about the loyalties of the club’s ownership. “The owners of the club are Chiefs supporters themselves so I’m not sure about them, but the players I can definitely tell you want to win the match.”
Chiefs have, in the past, been eliminated by Acornbush, FC Cape Town, Baroka, Richards Bay and most memorably TS Galaxy.
In 2019, Amakhosi could not end their growing trophy drought as they went down to The Rockets who were still in the second division at the time.
Buthelezi was quizzed on whether he and his team had done any research on the secret behind overcoming Chiefs in this competition.
He explained how Milford would not have to follow any set blueprint on defeating Chiefs but had hatched their own scheme for this encounter.
“As far as I can tell, they had their own plan on how they were going to beat Chiefs at the time, the same way we have our own at the moment. The strategies will always differ but we are ready to face them and I can guarantee we will make it difficult for them,” he said.
Milford are currently in 12th spot on the Motsepe Foundation Championship standings, just two points away from bottom-placed Platinum City.
Having failed to win a match after two outings this year, the Richards Bay-based outfit is eager to get a boost in morale and the scalp of Chiefs might provide just that.
Milford’s clash with Chiefs is one of eight fixtures between DStv premiership sides against lower league opposition.