Tinkler: We Have A Mammoth Task Against Stellies
Sekhukhune United coach Eric Tinkler believes his team has a “mammoth task” ahead of them as they look to overturn a two-goal deficit in the MTN8 semi-final against Stellenbosch.
The second leg of the semi-final will see Sekhukhune host Stellenbosch FC at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday (18:00) after a 2-0 defeat in the first leg.
Despite the setback, Tinkler is confident his team can rectify their mistakes and perform at a higher level. He acknowledged the challenge posed by Stellenbosch, praising their defensive structure and dangerous counter-attack.
“I think it’s a mammoth task ahead of us, not going to be easy,” said Tinkler.
“Watching Stellies again against Pirates, they are not an easy team to break down. Defensively, they are quite organised, quite structured, and obviously they are very, very dangerous on the counterattack.”
“We find ourselves in this situation by giving away two silly goals away from home, but now at home, we need to try and rectify those mistakes. Be positive, positive mentality over the game, know that we have everything to gain. As long as we can get ourselves back into the game nice and early, and possibly try and turn those results around. But we’re probably going to have to play the best football we’ve played this season.
“I think our game against Orbit was better than what we did against Stellies. So if we can replicate what we achieved against Orbit but raise our level even higher, then we stand the chance to turn the results around in our favour.”
Barker has emphasized that going into this game, they are going to try to take more risks when attacking, but be cautious and not let the opponent hit on counterattack.
“Obviously, I try and treat it like this is almost the second half of the game and we’re two-nil down, exactly what happened against Ts Galaxy,” said Tinkler.
“So what becomes important, obviously, we have to take more risk in attack, we have to be a lot braver on the ball, we have to be more assertive in attack, but you mustn’t be stupid. You’ve got to be clever, you know they are going to try and hit you on the break and on the counterattack.
“Your work ethic has to be really, really high; your concentration level has to be very, very high. But you need to be positive to be able to go out there and look to try and get that early goal. As I said 2-1 lead is never a comfortable position for a team that finds itself in that 2-1 lead position.”
The 55-year-old further aims to get an early goal that will put pressure on Stellies, noting that it will motivate them to get another one.
“So as I’ve said, if we can get an early goal, that will put a lot of pressure on them and obviously it will motivate us more to go and get the equaliser,” Tinkler added.
