University of Pretoria head coach Tlisane Motaung reacts during a GladAfrica Championship match FILE - University of Pretoria head coach Tlisane Motaung reacts during a GladAfrica Championship match. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Durban — The University of Pretoria have stepped up preparations and are braced for a titanic showdown at the Lucas Masterpieces Stadium against Swallows FC on Wednesday at 3pm.
Tuks have worked their way into a glorious opportunity for promotion as they head into the final match of the playoffs needing to simply not lose against an inconsistent Swallows side.
The Gauteng based club head into the final matchday on top of the promotion-relegation mini table with five points and their next opponents Swallows tight on their tail with four points and needing nothing short of victory to survive the dreaded drop to the GladAfrica Championship.
The Tuks camp would've been incredibly pleased to see Swallows slump to defeat in their last game, However Head Coach Tlisane Motaung exclusively revealed to IOL Sport that the position they are currently in will have no influence on how they approach the biggest game of their season.
"Our preparations before the match (Cape Town All Stars vs Swallows) were directly linked to us playing to win the game against Swallows and even afterwards we are still preparing to go and win against Swallows FC," he said.
"We feel it would be fairly unusual for Tuks to play a sort of defensive style, we have never done that and it would be a great injustice to my players if I asked them to play like that just because that would be enough.
"We will do what we have been doing which is playing the game at high intensity, use our aerial power, press in the right moments and utilising our direct football approach, some call it helicopter football but I call it dynamic football."
The predetermined 'Rock n Roll' method of Tuks is one that requires excellent levels of conditioning and fitness. The manner in which Motaung's men go about their work seemed to take a toll on them in their last game but they head into this encounter on the back of a six day resting period.
"We're gonna have about 6/7 days before this particular match and that will be good enough for us to have energy for this particular match," he expressed.
"Against All Stars we were flat in certain moments but it's not because of anything in particular but rather the fact that we had to play two games in about four days which will have a certain effect on an athlete's body.
Tuks are headed towards a challenging assignment of breaking a recent hoodoo for second division as the past three play-offs have ended in premiership sides retaining their status, a challenge Motaung is relishing.
"We are aware of that stat and one has to respect premiership teams because they're strong but this is an opportunity for us to see whether we're ready or not and it also gives our players an opportunity to gauge themselves against top flight players," he concluded.
IOL Sport