Photo Credit - Simba SC Tanzania.
Simba SC head coach Fadlu Davids has called on his players to step up a gear if they are to beat Azam FC in a Mainland Premier League derby at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Monday.
The Wekundu wa Msimbazi will head into the fixture lying second on the league table but five points behind rivals and champions Young Africans (Yanga SC), who hammered Mashujaa FC 5-0 at Lake Tanganyika Stadium on Sunday.
“Preparations have gone well, we know it is a big game, a derby, and in the big games you need the team to step up a level and there are a lot of emotions involved besides the tacticial aspect, besides the physical aspects, the huge part is the psychological aspect,” Davids told Pan-Africa Football.
“We faced Azam in the first round and although we beat them 2-0, it was a very even match, it was a match that could have gone both ways, so we respect them as a club, we respect the coach for the work he is doing, for the job he is doing, it is a very well coached team, organized in defence and dangerous players in attack.”
Asked about the abrupt change of the fixture from Azam Complex to Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, the South African coach said: “Of course, playing in an artificial pitch and playing in a natural grass is a huge difference, especially in terms of how the ball runs, the other aspect is the size of the pitch, and if teams want to settle in deep blocks, Azam is very organized defensively and could have taken advantage of playing at Azam Complex.
“Maybe playing at Benjamin Mkapa will give us more space to use the width of the field, to use the inside channels, to use half spaces, but it will be for both teams, the wingers will also have space to create isolations against full backs so you can say it is an advantage playing at Mkapa Stadium for both side, so we will be able to give the fans a much better game of football, and it will be more advantage to the fans.”
Davids concluded: “We will have a final training session, we will touch up some finer details of our plan and be ready to go, to give our fans a spectacle game and also aiming for the three points. We are always trying to improve in every match and the derby is another game we want to show our strength.”
While Simba are second, Azam are sitting third with 43 points from 20 matches. They have managed 13 wins, four draws and suffered three defeats.
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