Maritzburg United coach Eric Tinkler has praised the focus of his side as the players push for a starting berth in Sunday’s Telkom Knockout semifinal against Kaizer Chiefs at the Mbombela Stadium.
Maritzburg are seeking a first ever place in the TKO decider, but are up against a form Chiefs side who have lost just once in 13 games in all competitions this season.
Tinkler lifted this trophy with Cape Town City in 2016, an unexpected triumph, and will hope to replicate that with Maritzburg this season.
“The intensity at training has been extremely good, which shows that everybody wants to try and get into that 18-man squad, which is what you want,” Tinkler told the club’s website.
“We know how strong they are, they’re having a great season. We know their confidence is very high, but we need to go there and be brave and not play with fear.
“They’re playing very different to last season, a very different team … a lot of new faces. [Samir] Nurkovic has brought something very different. I think they’re a more direct team now than what they were in the past. Because of the height Nurkovic and [Leonardo] Castro gives them up front.”
Maritzburg have also had a good campaign to date after their battle with relegation in 2018/19, though Tinkler acknowledges they need to find more firepower up front.
“We’re winning matches but we’re not scoring many goals. We’ve got ourselves into this phase of the tournament due to our hard work defensively. So that becomes very important against a team like Chiefs, defensively you need to be solid.
“But obviously we want to work on our offensive play, we need to try and capitalise on whatever mistakes they might make, on the fact that they may have a central defensive pairing that has not played together.
“But they study us the same way – they’ll also look at our weaknesses and strengths, it’s just a case of who applies it in the right way on the day.”
Tinkler is expecting a rowdy atmosphere at the Mbombela Stadium, heavily weighted in Chiefs’ favour
“Kaizer Chiefs, no matter where they play, it’s a home game. I like the Mbombela Stadium, from the last game I saw being played there, the surface looked great.
“It helps us with the brand of football which we want to play, and obviously it will also help them – so I think it will be a very entertaining match.”