SuperSport United assistant coach Andre Arendse has revealed a tactical conundrum they are facing with Kaizer Chiefs loanee Christian Saile after they were sent packing in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.

The Tshwane outfit put on a valiant fight to drag the defending champions Orlando Pirates into extra time and eventually to a penalty shootout, where they lost 5-4 after Gape Moralo scored the equalizing goal in stoppage time.

Arendse, who was on the touchline in the absence of suspended coach Gavin Hunt, rues missed chances as he believes extra time could have been avoided if they were clinical enough in front of goal in Polokwane.

“We had chances, it could have been easily two, three or four for us, [Ghampani] Lungu missed one in the beginning stages of the game. Christian Saile also scored goals but he could have just passed to Bradley [Grobler], so we had opportunities, and we can take that into our next games,” he said.

“We have to be more clinical in the final third, so an end product, we’ve got to be able to put the ball in the back of the net when we create big chances for the team, and we didn’t do that clinically enough. Lungu’s open goal in the beginning, first minute or something, that you have to be clinical enough and that’s the one thing we will fix going into the next games.” 

The former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper went on to shed light on the progress of Saile, who switched Naturena for Tshwane in the January transfer window and says they have a positive tactical challenge as they don’t know what position is suitable for the player at the moment.

“He’s settling in well; he’s a quality player. We are trying to find what position suits him best because he’s very good on the wings for us but he’s also good at playing with two strikers upfront when he’s running into the channels, so we are giving him different options as a player,” Arendse added.

The 25-year-old is one of the two players, along with Vincent Pule, who had their penalties saved by Pirates shot-stopper Sipho Chaine. Now, the Matsatsantsa second in command, Arendse, sent a message of encouragement to the DRC forward.

“Head up boy, nobody likes to miss a penalty, in fact he didn’t miss it – it was saved. So, I think it’s very important for him to understand that the penalty was saved and that’s important for us to understand,” continued the 1996 AFCON winner.

“So, we’ll lift him and we’ll go again, I know it’s never easy but there’s so much to be proud of from the players.” 

The Spartans will turn their focus back to the Betway Premiership as they look to create a gap between themselves and the relegation spots. SuperSport, in 13th place with 21 points – four above the relegation playoff spot, will visit TS Galaxy at Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday.