Cape Town City happy to be finally back to their true ‘home’

Cape Town City are relishing returning to their true ‘home’ on Friday when they host AmaZulu at the Cape Town Stadium in an Absa Premiership clash in the Mother City.

City have only ever lost twice at the venue‚ a surprise 2-1 reversal at the hands of Baroka FC last season‚ and a 2-0 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs in September.

Their desire to play at the ground has little to do with the atmosphere or fan support‚ but more the quality of the pitch that allows them to play their expansive passing game to try and unlock a leaky Usuthu defence.

With winger Aubrey Ngoma now back and firing‚ and Teko Modise likely to be in contention after injury‚ the perfect pitch at the Cape Town Stadium could be City’s biggest weapon.

For goalkeeper Sage Stephens it is a fixture against one of his former clubs and a chance to further entrench himself as the number one gloveman ahead of Shu-Aib Walters and Zimbabwe international Tatenda Mkuruva.

“I’m really looking forward to this game because it feels like we haven’t played at home for so long‚” Stephens said.

“Preparations have been going very well and I’m also excited because the coach [Benni McCarthy] has shown faith in me yet again.

"The guys have been looking great in training‚ even though we come off what we consider a bad [1-1] result against SuperSport. “The positive is that everyone put in 150 percent effort although the result didn’t go our way.

“Playing against my old team isn’t really on mind‚ I’m just focused on playing again as if I was playing against any other team in the league.

"I believe as a player you can’t pick games‚ most certainly I won’t be picking this game as anything more special than any of our other home matches.

"I’m preparing for the game just as I did for Ajax and Polokwane at home.”

Victory would take City into second‚ one point ahead of Orlando Pirates with the same number of games played.

It would leave them four points back from leaders Mamelodi Sundowns‚ though having played two games more.

AmaZulu are not thinking of such lofty heights‚ but rather their own survival this season as they look to cement their place in the elite league.

Having bought their way into the top-flight via the status of Thanda Royal Zulu after failing to win promotion the traditional way‚ staying there is the number one aim.

Victory for Usuthu would see them climb into the top eight‚ but defender Mbogeni Gumede revealed this week they are not thinking of that.

“I don’t think we need to put any unnecessary pressure on ourselves‚” he said.

“Because we are coming from the National First Division‚ people thought we would struggle. But we have done fairly well in this league. We must treat each game like a cup final.”

AmaZulu have five points from 15 on the road this campaign‚ but their problem has been conceding goals‚ with 10‚ or two per game‚ shipped in that time.