After suffering two successive defeats in their opening matches of the DStv Premiership this season, Cape Town Spurs captain Clayton Daniels is desperate to get the monkey off their back by registering their first win.
The Premiership returnees lost their first two matches to Sekhukhune United 2-0 and TS Galaxy 1-0 to remain at the bottom of the table.
Daniels has rued his side’s costly mistakes in those matches, saying the new players are still trying to find their feet and there is no need to press the panic button yet.
“In the first two games, we gave a really good account but also we made a couple of mistakes that cost us the games,” Daniels explained to Sowetan yesterday.
“We are still learning, there are still a lot of new players in the league, so sometimes we have to pay the school fees.
“But we are learning. We are growing. We can’t compare last season with this one. It’s all a different ball game. If you make a certain mistake, you get punished and maybe in the previous campaign you could get away with it.
“So, the guys must learn quickly and limit the errors, but we are growing from this and, hopefully, we don’t repeat them in upcoming games.”
With Spurs to face Polokwane City in their next match at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday (3pm), Daniels, 39, emphasised the importance of starting to collect maximum points early in the season.
“We have to start fighting now. We have to bring the energy and the right mentality. Only then will our qualities come through,” he said.
“The quicker the better you get the monkey off your back by breaking the ice and getting our first win under our belt, and from there we can build our confidence and grow as a team.
“But I know it is not going to be easy. When you lose games it is easy to point fingers. But we have to come to training with the right mentality, the right attitude and stay positive.
“We are trying to rebuild the guys’ confidence at training to regroup and not put too much pressure on them also. We give them space to learn from those mistakes also and hopefully, we will rectify them in the upcoming game.”
Fixtures
Today: Sekhukhune v Swallows, Peter Mokaba, 7.30pm
Friday: Royal v Stellenbosch, Harry Gwala, 7.30pm; SuperSport v CTP, TUT, 7.30pm
Saturday: Polokwane v Spurs, Old Peter Mokaba, 3pm; AmaZulu v Bay, Moses Mabhida, 5.30pm; Chippa v Sundowns, Nelson Mandela Bay, 8pm
Sunday: Galaxy v Chiefs, Mbombela, 3pm.
‘The guys must learn quickly and limit errors’
No need to press panic button yet, says Spurs captain
Image: Gallo Images/Carl Fourie
After suffering two successive defeats in their opening matches of the DStv Premiership this season, Cape Town Spurs captain Clayton Daniels is desperate to get the monkey off their back by registering their first win.
The Premiership returnees lost their first two matches to Sekhukhune United 2-0 and TS Galaxy 1-0 to remain at the bottom of the table.
Daniels has rued his side’s costly mistakes in those matches, saying the new players are still trying to find their feet and there is no need to press the panic button yet.
“In the first two games, we gave a really good account but also we made a couple of mistakes that cost us the games,” Daniels explained to Sowetan yesterday.
“We are still learning, there are still a lot of new players in the league, so sometimes we have to pay the school fees.
“But we are learning. We are growing. We can’t compare last season with this one. It’s all a different ball game. If you make a certain mistake, you get punished and maybe in the previous campaign you could get away with it.
“So, the guys must learn quickly and limit the errors, but we are growing from this and, hopefully, we don’t repeat them in upcoming games.”
With Spurs to face Polokwane City in their next match at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday (3pm), Daniels, 39, emphasised the importance of starting to collect maximum points early in the season.
“We have to start fighting now. We have to bring the energy and the right mentality. Only then will our qualities come through,” he said.
“The quicker the better you get the monkey off your back by breaking the ice and getting our first win under our belt, and from there we can build our confidence and grow as a team.
“But I know it is not going to be easy. When you lose games it is easy to point fingers. But we have to come to training with the right mentality, the right attitude and stay positive.
“We are trying to rebuild the guys’ confidence at training to regroup and not put too much pressure on them also. We give them space to learn from those mistakes also and hopefully, we will rectify them in the upcoming game.”
Fixtures
Today: Sekhukhune v Swallows, Peter Mokaba, 7.30pm
Friday: Royal v Stellenbosch, Harry Gwala, 7.30pm; SuperSport v CTP, TUT, 7.30pm
Saturday: Polokwane v Spurs, Old Peter Mokaba, 3pm; AmaZulu v Bay, Moses Mabhida, 5.30pm; Chippa v Sundowns, Nelson Mandela Bay, 8pm
Sunday: Galaxy v Chiefs, Mbombela, 3pm.
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