North-West University (NWU) coach Karabo Masehela is confident that the NWU Eagles will bounce back from their third-round loss to the University of Pretoria (UP) in the Varsity Football tournament.

He says the 2-1 loss against UP was difficult to digest. “We had not anticipated such an outcome, but it served as a wake-up call for us. It shows that we cannot relax.

"While the NWU Eagles may have lost their previous game, coach Karabo is optimistic that they can put that defeat behind them and move forward, displaying the same form as during their first two games of the Varsity Football season.

"We anticipate a difficult battle against the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) on 11 August. They will come at us since they, too, had no victories thus far in the tournament, but we will slay them at our fortress.

"We defeated UKZN 4-1 last year, but we will not get carried away – this year is a whole different ballgame. My boys are eager to win all of our home games," adds coach Karabo.

After three games, the NWU Eagles are in second place with six points, one point behind the log leaders, Tshwane University of Technology.

The game between the NWU and UKZN will start at 17:00 on Thursday, 11 August at the NWU Mahikeng stadium, and will be broadcast live on SuperSport 4.

NWU Eagles player Lucas Seromo shows his fancy footwork during the game against the University of Pretoria.