TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic has sounded fazed by the way Chippa United have been playing since the arrival of two co-coaches in Kwanele Kopo and Thabo September.

Galaxy host Chippa in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals at Mbombela Stadium on Sunday (3pm). Ramovic expects Chilli Boys to be a tough nut to crack, narrating how they’ve improved under Kopo and September. 

“I think that since the new coaches [Kopo and September in January] arrived, Chippa have a different style of play. They are now more compact and have fewer blocks and they have more ball possession. They also now have a fantastic striker [Bienvenu] Eva Nga upfront...he’s fast and strong. The whole team looks very fit and strong,” Ramovic told a press conference at Nedbank headquarters in Sandton on Wednesday.

“When we see the last nine games of Chippa, they won five, drew two and lost two, scoring 13 goals. In every game, their ball possession averages 46%. This means they are a well-coached team. They will be a very tough opponent. Yes we are playing at home and we know about our own strengths but understand that we need to be at our best to increase our chances of winning.”

Even though Sunday’s meeting is a knockout affair, the Rockets mentor still banks on their impressive league defensive record, having conceded just 14 goals from 21 league outings thus far. Only leaders Mamelodi Sundowns have conceded fewer goals (five) than Galaxy in the league this term. 

“Last season we had second best defence [in fact they had third best defensive alongside SuperSport United after conceding 22, one more than Pirates, who had second best defence behind Sundowns that leaked only 13 goals in the league] and this season again only one team has conceded more goals that us in the league,” Ramovic said.

“If you defend well, you increase your chances of winning games and our first defender is our striker and our first attacker is our defender as well. We always want to stay compact in every block.”