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Rustenburg - Platinum Stars coach Cavin Johnson believes the growing confidence among his ranks has allowed them to mature into formidable opponens, and he predicts they will be a force in seasons to come.
Stars, in contention for their maiden Absa Premiership title, host SuperSport United in the second Nedbank Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
"The team now believe they can play football," Johnson said in Phokeng, outside Rustenburg, on Monday.
"They now believe they can do a lot more things than play football. There's no motivation needed.
"They love the game they play nowadays and they just give you more and more on the field, and when an athlete wants to give you more and more on the field, you can expect more and more results."
Unbeaten in their last nine outings in all competitions, Johnson said Stars were prepared for a tough assignment against United, and were eager to set up a clash against Kaizer Chiefs in the final of the knockout cup.
"We believe that whoever ended up in the last four of the tournament, as far as the semi-finals are concerned, deserves to be there," he said.
"We've prepared well and the players are very eager because they'd like to add something (to the trophy cabinet) this year.
"It will be a nice game. We have the players who are able to push themselves and are able to give themselves a 110 percent chance on the field."
Johnson was confident Stars would have the advantage of holding onto possession for long periods of the game, and he believed they could extend themselves beyond 90 minutes, should the match go to extra-time.
"We will put the best team out on Wednesday, play the best football we can and hopefully we win the game to go through to the final.
"My team is available to play 120 minutes because in a lot of our games, especially at home, teams come off the pitch and they are finished.
"Apparently a lot of the (opposition) players complain that we keep the ball too long. We like the ball and we like the other teams to run."
