SuperSport's team hasn't changed - Benni ahead of MTN8 final

Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy insists that his side have done their homework on SuperSport United ahead of the MTN8 final on Saturday, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.

The Citizens booked their place in the top eight final after beating Mamelodi Sundowns on penalties with goalkeeper Peter Leeuwenburgh being the hero on the day.

However, McCarthy says that winning one penalty shootout means nothing, but insists that his side have more depth in their squad with specialists to deal with those types of situations.

‘Don’t be fooled by one penalty-taking but I think we have got a good crop, we’ve got specialists in the team, specialising in penalty taking so yeah, the team, the depth is far better than what it was last season,’ McCarthy told the media.

Ahead of the final, McCarthy says his side have studied the way SuperSport play while also improving specific areas of their own game.

He also added that he was not impressed by Matsatsantsa’s 4-0 win over Black Leopards in the Absa Premiership, declaring it a ‘smokescreen result’.

‘Obviously, we have been watching a lot of their games, we watched the Black Leopards game but I think that’s a smokescreen game. I think we’ve mainly just focused on the games we played against them. We have played them four times up till now, so it is more or less the same personnel that’s featured,’ he added.

‘[Onismor] Bhasera played against us for the first time when we beat them at the start of the season but [Teboho] Mokoena didn’t play.

‘Bongani Khumalo hasn’t played against us yet‚ it was always Morgan Gould and Clayton Daniels against us.

‘So I think the best way for us to analyse them is to watch the games we’ve played against them‚ where we’ve done exceptionally well.

‘They have the same patterns‚ which we’ve studied‚ and we’ve gone and looked at our weakness – the things where we didn’t go well against them and where they might have hurt us in some instances — and are working on them.’

The match at the Moses Mabhida Stadium kicks off at 7pm.

WATCH: Benni McCarthy addresses the media