Free State Stars assistant coach Selaotse Mosala believes his side had the ‘roughest route’ leading up to the Nedbank Cup final, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.

Ea Lla Koto will prepare to take on Maritzburg United in the first final hosted at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

Mosala believes his side faced some of the toughest opponents before reaching the final, labelling their derby matches against Super Eagles as their hardest.

“I think we had probably the roughest route, because we had to face lower-division teams and they are always looking to prove a point,” Mosala said.

“We had a Free State derby against Super Eagles, where we went a goal down, and needed extra time to win.

“And then we had a really tough game against Ubuntu Cape Town, and we needed penalties to get through that.

“But, for the semi-finals, when Kaizer Chiefs decided to take the game to Durban, we knew we could get to the final. Chiefs have never beaten us in Durban, and we went on to beat them 2-0.”

The match at Cape Town Stadium kicks off at 19:00.