Dladla urges City to man up against strugglers

Durban City coach Simo Dladla is disconcerted by his side's habit, that stretches from last season, of failing to beat struggling sides, urging his troops to rectify that if they're to gain promotion.

City, who were previously known as Maritzburg United, are yet to lose in their five opening Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) games with three victories and two draws. Dladla has told how it worries him that they tend to struggle against strugglers whereas they always come to the part against fellow form teams.

"We are ready to fight for automatic promotion but my biggest worry is the way we play against teams who are off-form. Last season we dropped points against Platinum City Rovers when they were already relegated...but we couldn't beat them. We also dropped points against Marumo and Venda when they were number 15 and 14 respectively last season,'' Dladla told Sowetan yesterday.

"That's my biggest worry. If you look at Casric this season, they are top of the log but they've only lost to us and won all other games so far. We dropped points against Venda when they hadn't won a few weeks ago [they drew goalless away three weeks ago] and we did the same against Highbury when they have never won [they drew 1-all at home four weeks ago]. We must change our attitude against these struggling teams if we really want to win promotion."

City beat fellow former topflight side Cape Town Spurs 1-0 at home in their last game last Friday.

Dladla explained the importance of such a win. "The Spurs win was huge because it helped us reach the target we had set for ourselves after five games, and it was also a big confidence booster because Spurs are one of the big teams in this league,'' Dladla said.

NFD Results

AmaTuks 1-1 Baroka; Kruger 1-3 Milford; Leruma 0-3 JDR; Lions 3-1 Venda; Leopards 2-0 Callies; Durban 1-0 Spurs; Highbury 1-3 Upington; Casric 2-0 Orbit

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