“For me, personally, I have played many [major] competitions and tournaments but still coming to a derby, you still get that feeling," says the Bafana Bafana left-back.
"Not of nerves, but that feeling that today is 'Derby Day', and worse in a cup competition one must fall.
“You do still get that feeling; that excitement of the derby; but for me not to get caught up, I try to focus on myself and make sure that I am going to give my best for the team.
"The team comes first and it is nice to hear all the noise from the fans wherever you go, saying that we must beat them and all that, but it doesn’t really get to my head.
"I am a professional and I know that every game is important. For us as Kaizer Chiefs we go into every game looking for a win."
The 30-year-old says dealing with these emotions varies for each individual, but still emphasises the important role of the coach in such situations.
“As players and as individuals we are not the same, but the coach is always there to guide us and make sure that we are in the right frame of mind – the focus is there and the concentration is there," he adds.
"We have the coach and his [technical] team helping us and, again, as players some will listen to music and some will watch movies because we are all different.
"The coaches are there to guide us and make sure that the motivation levels are neither too high nor too low, but okay so that we give a great performance.
"We have to focus because we know what the challenge is, we know that we want to win the Nedbank Cup and it starts with Pirates."