Cape Town - Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler is expecting to face a confident Bloemfontein Celtic when the two lock horns in the opening Telkom Knockout match of 2016/17 on Wednesday.
The two meet at Cape Town Stadium where the hosts were beaten 2-1 by Baroka FC in the league over the weekend.
Celtic, on the other hand, won for the first time this season when they edged out Platinum Stars 1-0 at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
"Personally I don't feel they should be where they are in the league," Tinkler said. "It's not a true reflection of Celtic.
"They got a win now under their belt, so they will come with a bit more confidence now after that. So it's going to be an extremely tough game."
City, who are sixth in the league, reached the semi-finals of the MTN8 and Tinkler is hoping they can have another good run in the cup in this competition.
"We are taking it very seriously and we want to go as far as we can in this competition," the former Orlando Pirates coach added.
Lehlohonolo Majoro is out with illness and Robyn Johannes will start for City, while Siwelele will be without Lantshene Phalane through suspension.
The hosts never beat the visitors on home soil when they were still named Mpumalanga Black Aces, losing three and drawing three of their six contests.
Kick-off is at 19:30.