Kaitano Tembo frets over ‘Dan Dance’ factor as SuperSport meet Chippa

SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo is worried about what to expect from Chippa United‚ who recently appointed Dan ‘Dance’ Malesela as head coach for the fourth time‚ in the two teams’ DStv Premiership clash at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Wednesday.

Tembo said facing a side with a new coach is always tricky no matter what the form the opponents were in before a new mentor was brought in.

After eight league games in which they’ve only won one‚ drawn two and lost five‚ 14th-placed Chippa are separated only by goal difference from Black Leopards and Maritzburg United in 15th and 16th places respectively.

Malesela has replaced Lehlohonolo Seema‚ who was sacked by Chippa boss Siviwe Mpengesi after the Chilli Boys had ended the year with a 3-1 loss to AmaZulu in Durban.

Tembo said a Chippa coached by Malesela – a fan favourite at the eastern Cape club – can never be underestimated and it will be important for SuperSport to utilise home advantage effectively.

“We just have to prepare mentally for this game because it came at a very difficult time. But at the same time we’re playing against a team that has made changes in their technical team‚” said the SuperSport coach‚ whose third-placed side are six points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

“We don’t really have an idea how they’re going to approach this game but we really need to go out there and impose our game on them because we’re playing at home.

“What’s key is for us to impose our game from the beginning as we’re playing at home.”

Tembo said he’s satisfied with how his team have performed in the last three matches in which they gained maximum points against Baroka FC (3-1)‚ Kaizer Chiefs (2-1) and Maritzburg United (1-2).

“I think we’ve got a very good squad and we’re very disciplined‚” said Tembo as he anticipates a hectic schedule in January and beyond.

“I think we’ve been preparing for this coming month way before because the players physically they’re OK. We’re going to be playing games in a very short space of time.

“There’s not going to be much training. We just have to manage players properly between load and recoveries. The recovery is going to be very key.”