Magesi coach Clinton Larsen has insisted that his club possesses a strong chance at clinching the Carling Knockout Cup on Saturday (18:00). 

The Limpopo side finds themselves in a nerve-wracking position after having enjoyed a stellar run in their first PSL topflight cup competition. 

Knocking out two tournament favorites in Orlando Pirates and defending champions, Stellenbosch on their way to the potential cup glory, Dikwena tsa Meetse are now one giant slaying away from carrying out a remarkable feat. 

Despite admitting to his desire for lady luck’s favor, the club gaffer maintained that their success should also go down to the team’s defensive discipline and the assurance of the conversion of goal-scoring chances.  

“On the day it’s going to be important for us to have a little bit of luck. Defensively we’ve got to be very resolute and when we get the few chances we create, we need to bury them, and that’s going to give us the chance to win this game,” explained the 53-year-old. 

Magesi faces a Sundowns side that is efficient, having registered a total of 11 goals in their three Carling Cup matches while conceding none in the process. 

Wary of the Brazilian’s highly threatening offensive prospects, the former Chippa United coach stressed the significance of maintaining defensive stability from their midfield to the goalkeeper, predicting that the game should be won or lost in that regard. 

“Our defensive midfielder, Samuel Darpoh, our back four, and our goalkeeper, they’ve really got to be on top of their game to keep the Sundowns team out. And if you go back a few weeks when Polokwane City beat Sundowns, that was the case as well. The defense of Polokwane won that game for them.” 

The one-time Carling Cup champion further emphasized. “So, we have got to make sure, we try to get a similar shutout in our game and that fact that Elvis (Chipezeze) has been a man of the match says to you that we have been dominated by our opponents, let’s not try and sugarcoat this.”

In the dismissal of the notion of odds being stacked against them, the Magesi gaffer expressed his conviction with regards to the Polokwane side’s chances of overthrowing possibly one of Sundowns’ strongest squads in the club’s history at a cup final. 

“As long as we can go fight tooth and nail out there, and the players are prepared to do that, we will always have a chance,” asserted the former Bloemfontein Celtics coach. 

Having already made history in reaching their first top-flight cup final just after promotion, Larsen hopes to write his name in the history books of South African football as leads the 13-year-old club to a potential first cup victory.