Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs coach Giovanni Solinas has described Saturday's MTN8 quarter-final match with Free State Stars as a special occasion for him.
The Italian mentor has had two spells in charge of Ea Lla Koto and will be facing his former employers for the first time since his return to South Africa to take over the reins at Naturena.
Chiefs go into the match after a 3-1 defeat to Bidvest Wits in the Premiership but Solinas is confident his side will bounce back on the weekend.
However, he admitted that Ea Lla Koto will be motivated to cause another upset having beaten Chiefs on their way to clinching the Nedbank Cup title last season.
The match will be played at FNB stadium on Saturday evening.
"For me it's a special game because Stars is my old team and it will bring a lot of emotions," Solinas told Supersport.
"It's a tough game because they are a good team and beat Chiefs in the last cup competition. They won the Nedbank Cup last season and I expect a tough game.
"Yes, we made mistakes, but they are part of football. We analysed the game with the players and we tried to fix the mistakes."
Kick-off is at 18:00.