On a run in the league and into cup semis, Durban City’s Dladla keeps focus

With Durban City sitting in fourth place in the Betway Premiership and having reached the Nedbank Cup semifinals, interim coach Pitso Dladla has cautioned his side to remain grounded.

Dladla insisted he is not surprised by their good run, which continued when City beat Lamontville Golden Arrows 5-4 on penalties at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi, south of Durban, in Sunday’s Nedbank quarterfinal. In the league, City are unbeaten in their past six matches, which has seen them enter the top five.

Dladla said it is too early to talk about where his side will finish or whether they can win the cup.

“I think the danger of that is putting it in our heads that we are sitting in fourth position with so many games to go,” Dladla said in his post-match press conference on Sunday.

“That is very dangerous because in this league you can lose form and go down. But we are not surprised [about the recent success because of] how we prepare and plan for every game. We concentrate on each match as it comes.

“We also have this mentality of, ‘We have to do well at home’, because we’ve not lost for the longest time in a league game at our venue.

“But in saying we are going to be No 4, I think we should not look at that because we don’t know where we are going to finish.”

If you look at the structure of the management, you look at the different components that are there: the conditioning guys, performance department, medical team, and composition of the players. The mixture of experience and those coming from the lower division.

—  Pitso Dladla

Dladla, who in late January replaced Sinethemba Badela, who had taken over from Gavin Hunt in late December as City boss, explained how City have hit their stride recently.

“What the team got right is the work they do behind the scenes because the structure is there and it enables what you see on a match day.

“If you look at the structure of the management, you look at the different components that are there: the conditioning guys, performance department, medical team and composition of the players. The mixture of experience and those coming from the lower division.

“I think all that comes into play and with the sort of technical team we have, it’s more of the structure that has been created by the chair [Farook Kadodia] and the board of directors, and that is helping us.”

Nedbank Cup quarterfinal results

Sunday:

• TS Galaxy 2 Jacksa Spears 0
• Golden Arrows 1 Durban City 1 - City won 5-4 on penalties

Saturday:

• AmaZulu 1 Casric Stars 2
• Sekhukhune United 2 Milford FC 2 - Milford won 3-2 on penalties

Sowetan