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Polokwane City seeking third home win of the season

football28 September 2023 17:26| © Backpage TXT
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Manuel Sapunga © Gallo Images

Polokwane City head coach Lehlohonolo Seema believes his young team is making strides as they prepare to welcome Royal AM to the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Kick-off is at 5:30pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

Rise And Shine arrested a two-match losing streak in the DStv Premiership when they held AmaZulu to a 0-0 draw in Polokwane on Monday to go two points clear of the relegation zone in 12th spot.

It was only their second clean sheet of the season and Seema admits the Limpopo outfit are still a work in progress after gaining promotion to the top tier of South African football as the 2022-23 winners of the Motsepe Foundation Championship.

The Lesotho tactician was pleased with the amount of chances they created against Usuthu, but felt his players didn't put enough pressure on the opposition.

"I think we started not the way we wanted. The structure was there, but we didn't give them enough pressure, especially in the second half," Seema said.

"Second half, we changed the personnel and we created enough chances for us to get at least a goal, but it's a work in progress. This young team is growing each and every game they are playing.

"After two games, we have a clean sheet but [it's a] step in the right direction. We dealt with many things. They had their chances, they should have snatched it, but I think we created more than them."

CONCEDED 10 GOALS

Thwihli Thwahla find themselves just two places and one point clear of the National First Division champions after a 1-0 defeat to Sekhukhune United on 20 September left them winless in their last two outings.

John Maduka's side went into the international break on the back of two consecutive wins against TS Galaxy (1-0) and Chippa United (3-2) and the head coach is determined to fix the mistakes that contributed to the disappointing result at home to Babina Noko last time out.

Royal AM have now shipped 10 goals in seven matches this term - the third highest in the league - leaving Maduka to ponder his best line-up in defence for the trip to Polokwane.

"We are disappointed and I thought it was just one of those nights," he said after their third loss of the season.

"We were just unlucky and committed individual errors. I also felt we dropped so deep during the second half and this encouraged the opponents to attack. We are going to correct our mistakes and look better in the next game."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Polokwane City

Manuel Sapunga: The 31-year-old goalkeeper from Equatorial Guinea made his first appearance of the season against AmaZulu and put in a fine performance to register his maiden clean sheet in the top flight. Sapunga had to be at his best to deny Sede Dion and Ramahlwe Mphahlele in the closing stages of the second half to earn the hosts a welcome point.

Royal AM

Jeffrey Dlamini: The 32-year-old midfielder made his sixth consecutive start of the campaign against Sekhukhune and found himself in an advanced position on a couple of occasions, but missed out on the chance to get off the mark after failing to hit the target with two attempts from just outside the box in the first half.

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