Zothwane happy with Polokwane City's progress so far

Polokwane City co-coach Papi Zothwane is happy with the progress that his team is making in the Motsepe Foundation Championship as they are hitting the targets they’ve set.

The Limpopo-based side is laying a solid foundation for this season as they have ambitions of getting promotion to the DStv Premiership. The club is in second place on the log, behind Hungry Lions, only on goal difference.

In their last match on Monday, they beat provincial rivals TTM 2-1. Things are shaping up well for City and Zothwane, who is leading the team along with Duncan Lechesa. “So far so good, we are sticking to the targets we have set for ourselves,” said Zothwane.

“The players are adapting to our targets, nothing can make us proud more than getting results. This is a promotional league and you play to get results. When you get results you’re happy and very humbled and are looking forward to working harder,” he said.

In a season that’s heavily scheduled, squad rotation is key and man management becomes a crucial aspect.

Zothwane explained how they have kept the players happy. “This is a team sport and the players are supporting each other. They know that not all of them can play. The players that are not playing in football are important, they are the main part.

“You have to keep them happy and motivated so that when they come into the team they can perform. So far everyone who has been given a chance has performed. Only two or three players from the squad that we have had not got a chance [to play],” he said.

City will play three games before the Fifa World Cup break, Zothwane said they were targeting five points from the nine available. On Sunday, they meet JDR Stars at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium.

“It’s important we get three points, with three games remaining before the break, if we can get five points in the three games we’ll be okay,” said the former Bafana Bafana international. 

Motsepe Foundation Results: Cape Town Spurs 3-1 NB La Masia; Polokwane City 2-1 TTM; Casric Stars 1-0 Uthongathi; Black Leopards 0-0 Magesi; Hungry Lions  1-0 Baroka; Venda 0-0 Pretoria University; JDR Stars 2-1 All Stars; Platinum City Rovers 0-0 Pretoria Callies.