The former Chippa United mentor has won one of three games in charge, with a draw and a defeat.
Tinkler has challenged his troops to build on their last two games' performances when they host provincial foes AmaZulu at Harry Gwala Stadium tonight (8pm).
"It's a must-win against AmaZulu. We must continue with the kind of determination we have shown against City and Polokwane. We cannot rely on other teams. Nobody will help us, but we will help ourselves."
Usuthu are heading into this encounter still reeling from their 4-1 humiliation by Orlando Pirates in Soweto, but Tinkler is not reading too much into that.
"AmaZulu have beaten Sundowns and Cape Town City, I was there I watched the game. You cannot underestimate them. We have to be at our best," said Tinkler.
Five goals put a spring back on Eric Tinkler's step
Netting five goals in their last two league matches has given Maritzburg United coach Eric Tinkler optimism.
In what was only their second win of the campaign, struggling Maritzburg thumped Polokwane City 3-1 a fortnight ago, before losing 3-2 away to Cape Town City last week. These two games have been somewhat a beacon of hope for Tinkler.
"Since I've been here that's [goal-scoring problem] what I've been working on. It was evident that was the biggest problem of the team. We were not scoring goals.
"We primarily worked on that and a lot of players have responded well in the past two matches."
Before Tinkler replaced Muhsin Ertugral at the bottom-placed Maritzburg late last month, the Team of Choice had just six goals in 18 league matches.
The former Chippa United mentor has won one of three games in charge, with a draw and a defeat.
Tinkler has challenged his troops to build on their last two games' performances when they host provincial foes AmaZulu at Harry Gwala Stadium tonight (8pm).
"It's a must-win against AmaZulu. We must continue with the kind of determination we have shown against City and Polokwane. We cannot rely on other teams. Nobody will help us, but we will help ourselves."
Usuthu are heading into this encounter still reeling from their 4-1 humiliation by Orlando Pirates in Soweto, but Tinkler is not reading too much into that.
"AmaZulu have beaten Sundowns and Cape Town City, I was there I watched the game. You cannot underestimate them. We have to be at our best," said Tinkler.