Under 23 head coach Marc Sanchez insists he is under no pressure ahead of tomorrow’s clash against Mauritius, despite the expectations that come with being unveiled on the same day as senior national team coach Roman Catala.

Catala won his first assignment with Sanchez serving as his assistant, creating an inevitable comparison between the two coaches as Sanchez now takes charge of the Under-23 side.

But Sanchez says that is not adding pressure to his preparations, with player development remaining his primary objective.

“I don’t have pressure. We have the two goals very clear,” Sanchez said.

“The first one is to get the best players we can and help them to develop to be in the future, in the next years, in the senior team. This is the first objective and it’s the main one and it’s the one we are more concerned about.”

Sanchez, who has overseen four training sessions with the Under-23 side ahead of the Mauritius match, said the team is well prepared for the 6pm encounter.

“The preparation has been good. We have had four training sessions, and today will be the fifth one. I’m happy with the behaviour and performance of the players and also the help of my staff,” he said.

“I think we are well prepared.”

While development is the main focus, Sanchez acknowledged the competitive nature of football and said his players will still be targeting victory against Mauritius.

“Every football match we are competitive persons, all the players and all the staff. So this is the game. One player wins, one player loses. We’ll try to be the team who wins, but we don’t feel the pressure to play that kind of matches.”

Sanchez said the Under-23 team has a dual purpose, preparing players for the senior national team while also attempting to progress in the competition.

“First of all, our first objective is to be here to help them develop and help them to be in the senior team in the future,” he said.

“And also the second one is to try to pass rounds. That is because we are competitive, but it will also give us time to keep working with them together in the camp.”

Captain Corbin Mthunzi, who plays for Ipswich Town, said his recent experience with the senior squad has provided him with lessons he can now pass on to his Under-23 teammates.

“It’s going to help a lot, obviously being with the senior squad, learning from the senior players, especially over these three camps I’ve been in now,” Mthunzi said.

“I’ve gathered a lot of information, obviously being able to play with them, take that in, and obviously being able to come and play with the Under-23s now.”

Mthunzi added that the players remain focused on development and hope to eventually break into the senior team.

“Hopefully I can give them the information I’ve also learned being with the senior players. There are a lot of great players already,” he said.

“Obviously, we’ve all got a lot of learning to do, and that’s what we’re here to do, to also develop, and hopefully be able to get into the senior squad in the future.”

Despite playing down the pressure, Sanchez expects his charges to give everything when they face Mauritius.

“We’ll give everything on the pitch, and we’ll try to be better than Mauritius. We’ll try to dominate the game,” he said.

“The thing that we cannot have is to save some efforts.”