Fringe players fail to impress City's McCarthy

A frustrated Benni McCarthy says from now on in he will select his strongest possible team at Cape Town City.

McCarthy watched as City mustered just a single shot on target in their dismal 1-0 home loss to Bloemfontein Celtic on Tuesday night in a match in which he made eight changes from the side that lost the MTN8 final against Supersport United at the weekend.

McCarthy was worried that his team had played 120 minutes on a heavy pitch at Moses Mabhida Stadium, but hinted he might have overdone it with the number of changes.

"I've got some hard decisions to make. Today I gambled and in this league you can't gamble against any team," McCarthy said.

"We were nowhere near winning any football match. In the whole 90 minutes we had one shot on target. That's poor."

McCarthy singled out goalkeeper Sage Stephens, midfielder Thabo Nodada and livewire winger Craig Martin as the only players who impressed against Celtic.

"[Martin] is a player that comes from amateur football. He has hardly played at the highest level, but he had the biggest heart on the park today.

"Together with Thabo Nodada, they are the two smallest players, but those are players that when you go to war, I pick. They left everything on the pitch today.

"Martin was our toughest warrior and he is the skinniest - there is almost nothing on him, but he was standing up to be counted.

"He certainly played his way into this team and is one of the players that I am looking to go forward with.

"Unfortunately, the rest of the team couldn't follow. That's a shame, but at least now the team gave me a bit of a clear indication of not taking any more risks and rather continue with the strongest team."

McCarthy says he was most disappointed that some of his team did not grab their opportunity to shine.

"It was an opportunity for guys to come out and take their claim. But not many players took it."

Next up for City is an away clash at Chippa United on Sunday.