City coach Tinkler wary of Chiefs

Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler says meeting Kaizer Chiefs straight after Fifa international week may give his side a chance to improve their form in the second round of the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

City are winless in their last four PSL matches, and have dropped from second at the restart from the break for the Africa Cup of Nations to fifth. They suffered a second successive loss in their latest league match to Royal AM in Durban.

What gives Tinkler consolation is that the Citizens are still within touching distance of a tightly bunched pack of Orlando Pirates, Stellenbosch FC and SuperSport United, who are fighting to finish second behind runaway leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

City meet seventh-placed Chiefs at Athlone Stadium on Saturday (3.30pm).

“Our start hasn’t been great this second half so Saturday’s match is an opportunity to fix certain areas of our game that I think are extremely important,” Tinkler said.

Chiefs go into the match limping as they will be without crucial central midfielders Yusuf Maart and Edson Castillo, who are suspended after picking up fourth yellow cards in their 3-2 defeat to Orlando Pirates in the Soweto derby in March.

Of big concern to Tinkler will be that City have scored only three goals this year while conceding four in games where they picked up two points from a possible 12.

“We had a lot of injuries and suspensions. I don’t think the focus and concentration was there,” said Tinkler. “So I think the Fifa break came at a good time because we needed to try to work on certain areas of our game, try to get certain players fit who were key for us before the break.

“We also had some new signings and we needed to make them aware of our expectations and the way we play. For a game against Chiefs the players should be highly motivated.”

City beat Chiefs 1-0 at FNB Stadium in the first round and will be looking to complete a double. More importantly, they will be out to strengthen their chances of finishing in the top three and qualifying for one of the Caf Champions League or the Confederation Cup. 

“It’s important for us to get back to winning ways and there’s no better team to do that against than Kaizer Chiefs. They’re a different team to the one we played against at the beginning of the season and it’s not going to be easy,” Tinkler said.