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Tembo wary of AmaKhosi threat: 'that was the Chiefs team that we all know'

SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo during his post-match TV interview after the Premiership match against Martizburg United in Pietermaritzburg on November 27 2020.
SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo during his post-match TV interview after the Premiership match against Martizburg United in Pietermaritzburg on November 27 2020.
Image: Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix

SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo is wary of the threat posed by Kaizer Chiefs as his charges prepare to host Gavin Hunt's charges at Lucas Moripe stadium on Tuesday night.

Tembo insisted that Chiefs still have a lot of experience and individual talent at their disposal‚ despite their indifferent start to the season.

“They’re very experienced and they have won trophies. We don’t have to look at their current form.

"We have to prepare well because they have a lot of good individual players like Khama Billiat‚ Samir Nurkovic and Lebogang Manyama‚” Tembo said.

“Those are quality players‚ national team players and on any given day‚ they can hurt you. We need to make sure that we’re ready because all the games we’ve played against Chiefs have been tough.

"We’re taking one game at a time and we’ve got two important games before we close. We’ll try to finish on a high‚ starting with the Chiefs game. It’s an important game for us.”

Chiefs’ second half fight-back against Black Leopards‚ where they came back from two first-half goals to tie the game at 2-all at full time last week‚ wasn’t lost on Tembo.

United are fifth on the log with three wins and two losses while Chiefs are in rather unfamiliar territory in 12th place with six points from six matches with only one win.

“My analysis of that Leopards game only started in the second half because that was the Chiefs team that we all know.

"The mentality and the fighting spirit was there. That’s probably the Chiefs we’re going to see [on Tuesday]. We’ll be ready for the Chiefs we saw in the second half‚” Tembo said.

“They’re a big team and only big teams are capable of pulling something out of the hat.

"That’s what they did against Leopards. We need to have a good start‚ manage the game properly and get the three points. That’s our objective.”