Motaung optimistic as Tuks brace for playoffs

As the University of Pretoria prepares for the promotional playoffs after finishing second in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, coach Tlisane Motaung insists he is not concerned by their seven-match winless run.

AmaTuks head into the playoffs on the back of a poor run in the second tier and while that should be a concern, Motaung is optimistic that they will do well and know what to do to get back to winning ways.

AmaTuks drew 1-1 with Baroka in the final match at Tuks Stadium to secure their place in the playoffs on Sunday.

“We have to go back to the field and work on certain things that made us win a match in the second ten of games because we were grouping our fixtures in tens,” Motaung said to the media during the post-match press conference.

“I thought where we collected more points was in our second term. I think we collected something like 22 points and goals were coming. Unfortunately, we went through a rough patch where we were not winning matches and not scoring goals.

“Going into this playoffs, we are not going to be complacent. We know what we need to focus on. Players are aware. Our attackers are aware that for us to get promoted, we need to win matches.

“So, we will bounce back and we will work hard. The good thing is from December 19 until now, we tried to keep that second position, which was not easy. If you look at the amount of points that we dropped, it could have been worse.

“At least those draws kept us here and we finished second.”

Khomotso Lekoloane scored for Baroka before Thabang Sibanyoni equalised for AmaTuks to share the spoils on Sunday.

With either Richards Bay or Royal AM to join them in the playoffs after the final round of matches in the DStv Premiership this weekend, Motaung said they are prepared for any team.

“We have been following all the teams that are below. I’ve got videos of those teams. I’ve got three for each where I can watch any of them,” he said.

“Last week, when Richards Bay played in Polokwane, I drove there to watch them. From a planning point of view, we know. If we were to be given Richards Bay, we know what to expect and whoever.

“We’ve done our homework and we are not going to start from scratch. The only thing is passing the message to the players in terms of paying attention to details and how we are going to approach those games. In terms of planning, I think we are sorted.”