Beleaguered Cape Town City, winless in their last eight Betway Premiership matches, will look to return to winning ways against Marumo Gallants at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
City’s highly experienced coach Mushin Ertugral has identified the team’s problem areas, and after the side’s goalless draw against Chiefs during the midweek clash, he hopes to go one better at Athlone.
Ertugral will have his trump card Thulani Serero, the former Bafana Bafana star, in the starting line-up for the second time since he returned to City a few days ago. Ertugral fielded Serero in the second half against Chiefs and then withdrew because of match fitness concerns.
“I gave Serero 45 minutes against Kaizer Chiefs to help get the intensity right. I told him he’ll play probably until half-time,” said Ertugral.
“The initial idea was to bring him on in the last minutes of the game. Maybe that’s something I can fault myself on,” said Ertugral
“These are elements I should have looked at as the coach; if he came on as a second-half substitute, he would have probably found more outlets because he can hold on to the ball, and he knows how to attack the lines, which is very important for us.
“We started him against Chiefs, but he’s still not ready, and I fear that he could get injured because the intensity is too high.
“On Saturday, we have another game, and we need him to help us with that element of holding onto the ball more.”
While City pin their hopes on Serero, Gallants’ new coach Abdeslam Ouaddou will look to Ivorian striker Junior Dion as he looks to turn the club’s fortunes around this season. Gallants’ lowly log position has raised relegation fears.
“We will fight to save the club until the last minute of the last game. So, we have to believe that. But I feel that we can,” said Ouaddou.
Dion has been a bright spark for Gallants in recent games and managed to get his name on the scoresheet against Sekhukhune United earlier this week. The attacker will be keen to increase his tally this weekend, especially when facing a frail City backline.
Meanwhile, Stellenbosch FC are looking to increase their unbeaten streak in the Betway Premiership to eight matches this weekend when they take on Sekhukhune United at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday evening.
Stellenbosch has not lost a game in the league since the 7 February when they recorded a 1-0 defeat against Kaizer Chiefs on home soil.
Since then, they bagged three wins and four draws as they enter Sunday’s match in fourth position on the log.
Sekhukhune, now led by Eric Tinkler, jotted down three wins and two losses in their last five league fixtures. The Limpopo side saw out a 2-1 win against Marumo Gallants earlier this week and subsequently leapfrogged their upcoming opponents to third on the table.
Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker said: “For us to challenge and be in the top three, which is our ambition, we just need to go on those sorts of runs, where you remain unbeaten and get back-to-back wins when you can.”
Sekhukhune dangerman will be Nigerian Chibuike Ohizu, who is oozing confidence after netting the winner against Gallants on Wednesday night. The powerful forward will no doubt hope to do the same against Stellenbosch this weekend. | Independent Media Sport
