Free State Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske believes there will be enormous pressure and expectation on the Sharks ahead of their Currie Cup semifinal clash in Durban Saturday.

Drotske says that his side was written off as play-off contenders after a string of successive defeats at the start of the season.

He therefore feels that they have nothing to lose, while the defending Currie Cup champs will have the weight of expectation hovering over them.

"There's enormous pressure on the Sharks," the Cheetahs coach told Volksblad newspaper.

"They are the champions and they are playing in front of their home crowd which will bring huge expectation. We don't have pressure because nobody gave us a chance to get to the semis after we started with four consecutive losses.

"We can now go to Durban with 100 percent no high expectations."

The Free State side head to the Shark Tank on the back of a comprehensive 55-10 win over the Boland Cavaliers and they also have no injury concerns, after playmaker Meyer Bosman and speedster Lionel Mapoe shook off their respective niggles.

The Bloemfontein outfit has experienced an upward curve during the latter half of the season and Drotske is also hoping his side's familiarity with crunch games will boost their efforts on Saturday.

"Experience weighs heavily in knock-out games and it counts in our favour that since 2004 we've been able to advance to the knock-out stages," he said.

"In terms of pressure the players know what to expect during the next two weeks."

Drotske feels that there will be no favourites nor underdogs when they meet the Sharks and it also goes for the Newlands semi, when Blue Bulls and Western Province do battle.

"History suggest that any team can win in a semifinal. We've also learnt a lot from our last visit to Durban."