Tinkler hoping to cut out mistakes v Royal AM

Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler wants to see more positivity from his team when they take on Royal AM at Athlone Stadium in the opening round of the Carling Knockout on Saturday, October 19.

Kick-off is at 8pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

CURRENT FORM

The Citizens' campaign started in August when they beat Sekhukhune United 1-0 in the MTN8 quarterfinals before being dumped out of the competition by defending champions Orlando Pirates at the penultimate hurdle.

Tinkler tore into his players after the 3-0 loss to Stellenbosch on September 25 which continued their winless start to the Betway Premiership season, having been held to a 1-1 draw by Thwihli Thwahla on the opening weekend.

City claimed their first three-point haul as they beat SuperSport United 1-0 on September 28 and Tinkler hopes the result has given them some much-needed belief and confidence to get over the line against the KZN outfit this time around.

Royal AM have made the best of a bad situation after being prevented from doing any deals in the off-season due to a transfer ban.

John Maduka's side are still unbeaten in the league, but they've yet to register a win after playing out to three successive goalless draws against Matsatsantsa, Richards Bay and Magesi following the 1-1 stalemate with City.

Thwihli Thwahla's Carling Knockout adventure last term was brief after they lost 1-0 to Sekhukhune United in the opening round.

WHAT WAS SAID

Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler

"We're not far off, but I still think there's a little bit of lack of belief in some of the guys - they've got to have a little bit more belief and confidence in themselves and collectively.

"A lot of mistakes that we've made over the past couple of weeks, results not where we wanted to be, to be brutally honest. So there's still a lot of work for us to be doing over the next couple of weeks to try and correct those mistakes.

"It's going to be a lot easier, especially after this [win against SuperSport United] to go into this period now with a positive mindset and a positive attitude." 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Cape Town City - Prins Tjiueza has hit the ground running in the Mother City after scoring two goals in his first three top-flight appearances for the Citizens. The 22-year-old Namibian striker, who had been without a club for six months before joining City in July, appears to have slotted into the role vacated by Khanyisa Mayo seamlessly and is hoping to make it two goals in two games against Royal AM. 

Royal AM - Xolani Ngcobo played a key role in keeping Magesi at Bay on September 28 after pulling off two outstanding saves in the first half.  The 31-year-old goalkeeper appears to be first choice this season and Maduka's decision has been warranted thus far, with Ngcobo keeping three clean sheets and conceding just once in the Betway Premiership.

HEAD-TO-HEAD (Previous five meetings)

Matches - 5

CT City wins - 2

Royal AM wins - 2

Draws - 1