Ajax host their continental rivals holding a slender 2-1 lead after the first leg played two weeks ago, with Ruzaigh Gamildien and Riyaad Norodien grabbing two crucial away goals for the Urban Warriors.
With the Angolan domestic league only commencing last week, the first leg encounter against Ajax was Esperanca’s first official match of the new season. They have since played their first League match, a 1-0 loss to Desportivo Huila, with De Sa expecting a much sharper opponent ahead of the second leg.
“I think they’ll be better when they get here,” he told reporters. “It was their first competitive match against us, and since then they’ve played another match in the League, so I think they’ll be a bit more match-hardened, and match fitness will have crept into their game.
“So they’ll be a bit tougher than they were over there, but having said that, we are at home and we will take advantage of that, and we’ll take the game to them and play.”
Ajax have enjoyed a decent run of form of late, and although acknowledging that victory on the African continent is not their focus, De Sa hopes to maintain a winning culture ahead of Saturday’s clash.
“We don’t have these massive ambitions of going to the finals of the Champions League, etc, but we want to win every game we play, and Saturday night will be no different,” he said. “We’ll put out a good team, we had a very good first game, and we’d like to carry it through now.
“The players are confident and well-motivated, and it’s important that we keep a winning mentality.”
Kick-off at Athlone Stadium is set for 19:30.