Kaizer Chiefs striker Samir Nurkovic is determined to help his team reach this season's Caf Champions League semi-finals on Saturday.
The Glamour Boys will be away to Simba SC in the quarter-final second-leg game at Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium in Dar es Salaam with Chiefs having secured a 4-0 win in the first-leg clash last weekend.
Nicknamed Kokota (knocking) Piano, Nurkovic was in top form in the first-leg encounter as he grabbed a brace and an assist and he has stated that scoring twice at FNB Stadium was an amazing feeling.
“Amazing feeling from the game still, excited and looking forward to the second-leg and we are preparing and doing everything to go into the semi-finals,” Nurkovic told Chiefs' media department.
“Yeah, amazing feeling. And I mean, the Amakhosi family already knows, they don't just call me, Kokota Piano [for nothing], right? So I’m there, and I’m trying my best always to make them happy."
Chiefs will reportedly get a hostile reception in Tanzania and Nurkovic urged his teammates to be focused as the Soweto giants look to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in the club's history.
“We can’t really think about those things. All we have to do is to stay focused and to be 100% focused on our game, on how we going to play and how we going to perform on Saturday," he continued.
“I mean, there’s not so much time to do a lot of things, we just have to stay focused and with the same fighting spirit from the last game, continue with the same performance, everything and everything will be fine.
"I mean, me as an individual, I’m always working hard and I want to achieve the best possible results. And yeah, so far, so good for us and I’m really happy for myself, from the team, because everybody is really working hard and giving their best to achieve our goals.”
The Serbian marksman is looking forward to playing in Tanzania having traveled to Angola and Burkina Faso during Amakhosi's current Champions League campaign.
“Yeah, a really nice experience for me always when we travel to all these countries in Africa for me especially, really good and a nice experience. And I’m looking forward as well to see Tanzania and all what is there," he concluded.
The winner on aggregate between Simba and Chiefs will take on either Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca or Algerian side MC Alger in the two-legged semi-final tie.