Following City’s 2016 Telkom Knockout victory over the same foes, Matsatsantsa levelled the playing field in last year’s MTN8 showdown, with both sides looking to grab the overall lead in this year’s MTN8 spectacle.
McCarthy narrowly missed out on his first trophy as head coach last year as his side succumbed to a penalty shootout loss, but maintains there’s no extra incentive to claim honours this time round despite the obvious motivation to lift the cup.
“There’s no pressure,” he said. “I want to do it for me and the team as that’s what we work towards. When I first took the job, I said I didn’t want to be in the job for 10 years and only then disputing my first cup final. Fortunately I’m in my second season and we’re twice now in the final.
“I want to win it for the players – they deserve it, they put in all the hard work, they put in the effort and they deserve to be in two finals. It was unfortunate the last time, but I think this time, you don’t want to become that team that gets to finals and then they can't get over the line. So we want to put all our effort and energy in to this one.”
McCarthy isn’t reading too much into SuperSport’s previous result, a 4-0 win over Black Leopards, insisting that the final poses a different prospect altogether, yet one he hopes his charges will be ready for.
“It’s not going to be easy as I think SuperSport has found their range now, coming off with a 4-0 win,” he said. “So it’s not going to be an easy game for us, but we don’t care who they played against or what they’ve done. Come Saturday it’s going to be a completely different game, with two teams playing to win it, but I hope my boys will be as hungry as ever to make the second time count.”
Kick-off at Moses Mabhida Stadium is set for 19h00.