Eric Tinkler urges his Maritzburg United charges to remain consistent

04 March 2020 - 13:53 By Sazi Hadebe
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Maritzburg United coach Eric Tinkler and his assistant Vincent Kobola watche on during a match.
Maritzburg United coach Eric Tinkler and his assistant Vincent Kobola watche on during a match.
Image: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Maritzburg United coach Eric Tinkler wants to see his team continuing with the form and momentum that has seen his side grab 10 points from a possible 12 in their last four Absa Premiership matches.

Maritzburg host Polokwane City at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Friday night and Tinkler’s team are expected to once again bag the maximum spoils after beating Bidvest Wits (0-1)‚ Kaizer Chiefs (1-2) and Stellenbosch FC (3-0) in the last three matches to move to fifth spot on the table.

“What I want to see from the team is consistency and continuity‚” said the Maritzburg coach whose team have stretched their unbeaten run at home to an impressive 18 matches.

“That’s the most important thing for me going into this (Polokwane) game‚ remaining humble and taking nothing for granted.

“It’s going to be a tough game against Polokwane because obviously they’re looking to get themselves away from that relegation zone.

“They come off two wins (3-2 against Cape Town City and 2-1 against Black Leopards) in a row‚ so they will come here believing they can get something from it.

“So we need to stick to the game plan and play with that determination‚ hunger‚ passion and desire that we showed against Stellenbosch.”

Tinkler is aware of the importance of reminding his charges they were in the similar situation that Clinton Larsen’s team are in at the moment – fighting against the drop to the National First Division last season.

“You have to keep them grounded and you’ve got to remind them on a daily basis.

“You don’t want complacency to set in‚” said the former Bafana Bafana hard-tackling midfielder.

“They’ve must want to achieve more with the remaining eight games‚ you know.

“We want‚ obviously‚ to cement our place in that top eight and the only way we can do that is by continuing to collect points and make that gap bigger between ourselves and the teams below us.

Tinkler is also excited with the 19-year-old centre forward Bongokuhle Hlongwane‚ who opened his goal scoring account in the professional ranks with a wonderful brace in his seventh league appearance against Stellenbosch last week.

“I don’t have to keep him motivated‚” said Tinkler of the young striker.

“He knows as a young boy he wants to show his talents.

“But you just got to keep reminding him that he’s got to‚ like I said‚ stay humble‚ keep working hard and to not expect things to come for free.

“He’s going to have to up his game if he starts.

“What it’s important right now is for him to grow as a footballer because there is a lot that he can improve on.”


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