Sekhukhune United coach Eric Tinkler has admitted that finishing third in the league is no longer in their hands after dropping points during their 2-2 draw with AmaZulu at King Zwelithini Stadium on Monday.
The results left Babina Noko on 35 points, four behind third-placed Kaizer Chiefs. With seven games remaining for his side this season, Tinkler said they still believe they can finish third as they still have to face Chiefs.
“We will continue fighting to try and achieve that objective of finishing third,” Tinkler told the media after the match.
“What’s important now is how we finish; we still have seven games left, and potentially we can still reach our objectives.”
Tinkler also feels their performance in the second half of the season has dropped; hence they are not getting the results they want, and this is after they lost a number of key players due to injuries.
One of the players who has been out with injury is Bradley Grobler. “Our second half of the season has not been good... whether at home or away. Somewhere along the line we lost the momentum, and I think it was after the Afcon (Africa Cup of Nations) break, and that obviously affected us,” he said.
“We also lost quite a few key players, very important ones, due to long-term injuries. There are also few new players who came in after the Afcon break, and they are still having to reach the level of conditioning that is required because they were not regulars where they were playing.
“Second half of the season, truth be told, we are not good enough. I take responsibility for that as head coach. We have to find ways to win football matches, and we are doing that.”
Meanwhile, Tinkler also gave an update on Rivaldo Coetzee, who has been training with the club for a while after he parted ways with Mamelodi Sundowns last season.
“Rivaldo is training with us. He’s still with us. Rivaldo has spent more than a year out. He’s 28 years old; I’ve allowed him to train with us. I’ve seen massive progress in him. Time will tell, but he’s a good pro.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.