Larsen says PSL break can help Arrows‚ not derail them

Lamontville Golden Arrows coach Clinton Larsen is not perturbed that the fortnight’s break in league action will take the momentum away from his front-running team.

Unbeaten Arrows are second in the PSL and will resume their campaign‚ after a break of almost three weeks‚ away at leaders Baroka next Wednesday.

But the lack of action is not bothering Larsen.

“We have such a young squad and there are always things to improve. We look forward to the break. It just gives us more time on the training field‚” Larsen said.

“When you’ve got so many games coming in quick succession‚ your training time is very limited. This allows us now to work on so many different aspects. I actually look forward to the break.”

It also allowed Arrows to get three key players back from injury.

“We had Lehlohonolo Nonyane out for four weeks‚ Matome Mathiane out for four weeks‚ Jabulani Shongwe out for two-and-a-half weeks and Danny Phiri.

“Now we already have three of them back this week‚ Mathiane’s back in full training‚ so is Nonyane and Shongwe. So in that it has helped us.”

Ex-Zimbabwe captain Phiri is off in the long-term after snapping his Achilles tendon.

“For me‚ the most important thing is getting those extra hours on the training field‚ working on different areas we need to improve on. I still hear coaches complaining about the break but it’s part and parcel of what we do and we have to get on with business and work‚” added Larsen.

“I think with a bit more experience behind us now we are able to handle the situation (being among the Absa Premiership) leaders a lot better now than we did last season.

“If you remember‚ last season we got off to a similar start and then we had a lot of injuries and it all got a bit too much for some of the younger players. The inexperience took its toll on the team and impacted on our results.

“But I think this time we are little bit better prepared and the youngsters have a bit more game time behind them and we’ll manage the situation a lot better in the event of injuries and suspensions.

“At the moment we’ve got a bit of momentum and we’ll try and ride this wave for as long as we can. We are under no illusions that we are going to lose at some stage but we believe that this season we’ll be a bit more competitive than we were last season – based merely on the fact that we are a little more experienced‚” the Arrows coach said.

- TimesLIVE