MTN8 Final: 'Underdogs' Cape Town City are in a good position against Mamelodi Sundowns - Tinkler

Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler says they are happy to accept the underdog tag heading into Saturday's MTN8 final against Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Citizens will look to become the first team to defeat Masandawana this season with the Tshwane giants having looked unstoppable under their co-head coaches Rhulani Mokwena and Manqoba Mngqithi.

Masandawana are currently enjoying a seven-match winning run in domestic competitions and the last time they tasted a defeat was against Egyptian football powerhouse Al Ahly in the Caf Champions League in May this year. 

However, Tinkler feels their recent 4-3 win against Lamontville Golden Arrows in a PSL clash over the weekend has given his charges a much-needed confidence booster ahead of their encounter with Sundowns. 

“A positive result over the weekend and the win was very important," Tinkler said during the MTN8 final pre-match conference. 

"So, this morning at training the mood was very good and you can see already how the players are responding with a positive mindset leading up to the game on the weekend."

Tinkler is an accomplished coach having led City to their first-ever major trophy in 2016 which was the Telkom Knockout trophy, before guiding SuperSport United to an MTN8 title triumph in 2018.

The former Maritzburg United coach, who steered Orlando Pirates to the 2015 Caf Confederation Cup final, believes the Citizens are in a good position to cause an upset against the reigning PSL champions.

"I think it’s important for the teams to enjoy the moment…you managed to get yourselves to the final and you’re playing against a very good team in Mamelodi Sundowns who are definite favourites and we go in as the underdogs and that’s a good position to be in, in my opinion, to be the underdogs," he added. 

"We will work extremely hard during the week in terms of our preparation and our planning and I’m pretty confident that the boys will want to go out there and put on a good performance come Saturday."

City and Sundowns are set to go head to head at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.