The Citizens maintained their 100 percent start to the PSL season with a 1-0 victory over Bidvest Wits in the first leg of their MTN8 semi-final, with Ayanda Patosi grabbing the only goal at Cape Town Stadium.
In demand-attacker Lebogang Manyama, who could be on the way to Europe, was notably absent from proceedings in the Mother City on Sunday afternoon.
The two sides will resume hostilities at Bidvest Stadium in the return fixture on September 10, and when asked whether he was already mentally assembling his squad for the rematch, McCarthy revealed his match day squads are decided solely on the performances the players put into training leading up to any given game.
“It all depends,” he told SuperSport TV when asked whether the team would go unchanged for the second leg. “They [the squad] know: whether we’ve got a winning team or a winning start, at the end of the day they have to come [give their all] every single day in training.
“I still want to see what I’ve seen today [against Wits]: the commitment. If you don’t train, don’t think you’re going to be back in the starting lineup,” McCarthy warned his team.
“I’m not scared of changing it [the starting XI]. I want warriors, I want people who are willing to fight, and they [the players] know that. So every single day it’s about working hard, and come Wits again, whoever has done the business on training day will get the nod and they’ll get to play.”
Meanwhile, the other MTN8 semi-final saw Maritzburg United rally to earn a 1-1 draw away to SuperSport United on Saturday, handing the Team of Choice an away-goal advantage ahead of the return leg in Pietermaritzburg on September 9.