Eric Tinkler says good organisation and discipline will be key on Wednesday night if his Cape Town City side are to be able to counter the high pressing and fast counter attacking approach of Telkom Knockout Last 16 opponents Bloemfontein Celtic.

The two clubs meet in the opening game of this year’s tournament at the Cape Town Stadium (kick off 7.30pm).

“It’s very important to stop the source. That means that when we lose possession we have to apply immediate pressure and not allow them to hit you on the counter attack.

"Our transitional phase‚ from attack to defence‚ must be extremely well organised‚” said Tinkler.

Tinkler was full of praise for Celtic’s style of play this year and said the fact they had only won a single game in this campaign belied their ability.

“If they do make the initial break‚ then it becomes important that our defenders keep their shape and their discipline.

"Don’t sell yourself. Track the runners. Try and slow them down. Make them play backwards‚ in order for us to reorganise.

“Having watched them‚ they are a team with a lot of speed and talent. (Lyle) Lakay‚ (Fiston Abdul) Razak‚ (Deon) Hotto. There’s (Kabelo) Mahlasela‚ the youngster in the midfield.

"He’s extremely tricky‚ got a lot of pace‚ he likes to run at people. (Musa) Nyatama who is a good ball player‚ good distributor. It’s going to be key to stop these players.”

But Tinkler said he was not picking his own team to counter the Celtic threat.

“We are thinking about ourselves going forward. That has been our problem of late in my opinion‚ we are not creating enough chances in the final third.

"We’ve made a few changes therefore to the starting line-up.”

City will make their debut in the Telkom Knockout against Celtic‚ who finally got their first win of the season away at Platinum Stars on Saturday.

Many of the City players met Celtic in the Telkom Knockout last season when in the colours of Mpumalanga Black Aces and came away with a penalty shoot-out victory in a 0-0 draw. - TMG Digital