Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy says he feels more experienced as they prepare for their Absa Premiership opener against SuperSport United on Saturday, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.

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The 40-year-old guided the Citizens to the MTN8 final before helping the club finish fifth in the Absa Premiership standings during his maiden season with the Mother City-based outfit.

Heading into his second term as coach, McCarthy says he has learnt a lot from last season and is more experienced, and says he is looking forward to the start of the new campaign.

‘After this pre-season, I’m a lot more excited than I was last season, as I’m a year more experienced now,’ McCarthy said

‘I’m not a rookie anymore. The players have upped their game 50% from last season, so I’m optimistic. The new faces in the team have come in and made us real contenders, so I think I’ve got a very balanced and complete squad now with two-three players in most positions, which is a luxury as a coach.

‘I’m excited for the league, but more so for Saturday, as we want to get the monkey off our back straight away. It’s a home tie and I can’t wait.’

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The former Pirates forward will be hoping his side can challenge on all front as they have a ‘winning mentality’ installed in them.

‘As staff, we don’t want to come to training every day and not have a winning mentality – if we don’t, we might as well go home,’ he added.

‘We work because we want to win. We want to win every game, which means we want to try go all the way in every competition we’re in and hopefully win some silverware. We don’t want to limit ourselves, as that’s what we come here to do.’

Cape Town City will begin their Absa Premiership campaign against SuperSport United at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, with kick-off set for 6pm.