City look for redemption as they face Sekhukhune
Tinker says poor performance against Bucs was due to top-three pressure
Cape Town City mentor Eric Tinkler imputed their flat display in their Wednesday’s goalless draw against Orlando Pirates to the pressure of trying to leap to position three on the table.
Tinkler conceded his charges were simply bland at Orlando Stadium, blaming that uninspiring performance to the pressure they’ve accumulated by trying to be in the top three. City host Sekhukhune United at Cape Town Stadium in another league clash tomorrow (5pm).
“I think it was a collective problem that we were poor today [on Wednesday] I can’t single out any individuals. We possibly came into this game with a little bit too much pressure, the players felt that pressure,’’ said Tinkler.
“When I say pressure, winning three points tonight potentially could have taken us third on the log [depending on other results on the night] and I think a lot of emphasis has been put on that over the past week.’’
Tinkler disclosed he did all he could to take the pressure off his players but failed. The former Pirates tactician views their next three homes games against Sekhukhune, Marumo Gallants and Baroka as a perfect opportunity for redemption.
“I tried to take that pressure off the players prior to the game, saying to them ‘you know what, it’s important for us to keep a clean sheet let’s go out there and express ourselves… let’s not be afraid to play, let’s not be afraid to lose’. I told them if we lose it’s not the end of the world we have three home games coming up…that’s where we can always redeem ourselves,’’ Tinkler explained.
Tinkler also detailed why he opted to start promising attacker Khanyisa Mayo on the bench against Pirates, despite having scored in both their previous games against Royal AM and Golden Arrows.
“Mayo as a striker gives us a lot more options but he needs to get a little bit stronger to be able to hold the ball up a little bit better. Slowly but surely his confidence is growing. For a couple of years, especially at Richards Bay, he was playing in wide positions but I think he’s most effective as a striker,’’ Tinkler said of Mayo.