Maduka hopes to improve Royal's away record after first win in nine games

After registering their first victory in nine matches when they beat TS Galaxy 1-0 at Harry Gwala Stadium on Sunday, Royal AM coach John Maduka is now planning to improve their away record.

A Thabo Matlaba's second-half strike against Galaxy gave Royal their first win this season. Maduka said they need to win away, starting with Chippa United at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Wednesday.

The last time Thwihli Thwahla won on the road was on March 11 when they beat Golden Arrows 3-1 in the Nedbank Cup last 16.

"Very difficult game that we will be facing against Chippa and we have to improve our record when we play away. We have not been good travellers, so we must change that," Maduka told the media after the match.

"We lost our first game to Orlando Pirates, but in our next match, we want to change that and get some points because we also lost some at home.

"We must be able to try and get those points now away from home. We know it is not going to be an easy game. What we have to do is try to manage the players to be ready for that match."

Maduka, 52, also admitted that their victory on Sunday was a relief, having lost two of their opening matches this season.

"We really needed this one. When it comes to the game itself at the beginning, we didn't go forward enough. You could see that in the first half, we didn't create any chances because we wanted to make sure at the back we were solid and don't give any chances to the opposition to hurt us," he said.

"It's not easy for coaches to motivate the players when the team is not doing well. But we have to keep trying and make sure they understand that for the team to win, it's only us who can do that.

"We can't feel sorry for ourselves. We must work very hard and make the intention clear that whenever we go into the game, we must have the belief that we are going to win it."