SuperSport United caretaker coach Kaitano Tembo has welcomed their potentially tricky Caf Confederation Cup play-off encounter against Kenyan giants Gor Mahia next month.
United‚ who lost to TP Mazembe the final of this competition last season‚ travel to the Kenyan capital for the first leg on 6 to 8 April and Tembo says they will use their past continental experiences to deal with the expected hostile environment in Nairobi.
“It is not going to be easy against Gor Mahia in front of their own crowd because they are probably the best supported team in Kenya.
"But we have seen worse over the past few seasons playing in Africa‚” said Tembo as he reflected on the draw on Thursday.
“Going to Kenya to play in front of those thousands of passionate fans will be a crucial learning experience for some of the younger players in the team like Jamie Webber and Darren Smith.
"We have experienced players like Morgan Gould‚ Dean Furman and Reneilwe Letsholonyane who will able to guide them and we are looking forward to the trip next month.”
Though Tembo is confident that United have got what it takes to go past Mahia over the two legs and progress to the group stages‚ he said that their mission is not going to be an easy one as they are playing against one of the teams that was eliminated from the Champions League.
“We have reached the stage where we are playing some of the best teams on the continent because they won the league in their own countries last season.
"This is the case for us because Mahia won the league last season in Kenya.
"They are currently sitting at the top of the of their league after six rounds of matches but we have to go out there are try by all means to get the result‚” he said.
Before they travel to Nairobi‚ United have the bread and butter issues of the PSL to contend with as they have a must-win league clash against Polokwane City at Peter Mokaba Stadium on April 4 where they will be looking for three points to get out of the relegation zone.
“Obviously the match against Mahia is important but our immediate focus is on City because we have to get all the three points to move out of the relegation zone.
"Over the next two weeks‚ we will be working hard at training to ensure that we are ready for the trip to Polokwane and our focus will shift to Mahia after that‚” said Tembo.
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