Kaizer Chiefs and Free State Stars are set to go head-to-head at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in their Nedbank Cup semi-final clash on Saturday, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.

The two sides will battle it out for the third time this season and the second at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, with Amakhosi claiming victory in the previous encounter between the clubs through a late goal by Teenage Hadebe.

Steve Komphela and his charges will be hoping to take one step closer to claiming their first trophy since he was first appointed as Amakhosi coach when they come up against Ea Lla Koto.

The Glamour Boys made their way into the semi-finals after they defeated Baroka 1-0 in the last eight at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium via a goal by defender Eric Mathoho on 31 March.

Amakhosi coach Komphela said: ‘We have been to two cup finals‚ semi-finals and all that. We need to win something, not for ourselves‚ but we serve these people [the fans].

‘They want to win trophies. Chiefs is about winning trophies and it is their pride and we want to qualify that.’

Meanwhile, Free State Stars will be hoping to end their impressive campaign off with a piece of silverware under the guidance of coach Luc Eymael.

Stars have recently dipped in form, with their last win coming against Ubuntu United, who they beat in the quarter-finals.

Ea Lla Koto coach Eymael said: ‘The match is about the players [and] not the coaches. When you play against teams like Chiefs, you don’t need to motivate players … motivation comes naturally. We are not thinking about Chiefs’ pressure – it is not our problem.

‘We do not want to get ahead of ourselves but our wish is to go and compete on the continent next season. At the moment we are focusing on our game against Chiefs because we need to go to the final and win this cup. We also want to finish in a respectable position on the log.’

The match at the Moses Mabhida Stadium kicks off at 8:15pm.

Photo: Frikkie Kapp/BackpagePix