Eric Tinkler insists Cape Town City have moved past their mid-week drubbing and they will be fully focused on the Carling Knockout Cup clash against Richards Bay at the King Zwelithini Stadium tomorrow (3pm kick-off).
Goals from Amadou Soukouna, Jaedin Rhodes and Jody Lee Ahshene eased City to a comfortable 3-0 victory against Royal AM in the first round of the knockout competition.
But heading into the crunch clash against the Natal Rich Boyz, Tinkler and his troops suffered a bit of a setback against the league champions.
The Cape side were outclassed by a rampant Mamelodi Sundowns side with three unanswered goals at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday night, but Tinkler wants his outfit to move on from their defeat to focus more on the opportunity that lies ahead, with silverware up for grabs.
“Let’s not look at the past, but focus on the future – the focus turns to this game against Richards Bay,” Tinkler said while addressing the media in Johannesburg yesterday.
“Our target and objective from the beginning of the season was in the league to again try and finish in the top four.
“We would like to bring a trophy back to Cape Town. It has been a while now since we last won a trophy, and that target was set at the beginning of the season.
“We find ourselves in the quarter-final of this competition, and this match is important for us in order to achieve that objective.
“Richards Bay can be difficult. Trut (Brandon Truter) is a good coach, which makes it difficult when you play against them.
“They are a very aggressive team, and they like to play in the counter-attack, which makes them a dangerous team.
“We will have to be at our best. I made a lot of changes against Sundowns just to show how seriously we take this competition.”
🗣️ "We are much better than what the scoreline suggests," says Fortune Makaringe.
— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC) October 31, 2024
"Yes, the boys are disappointed, but we've got to pick ourselves back up, work hard, and come back stronger to win our next game the right way." 💪#iamCityFC pic.twitter.com/7ii4aDV7Tq
Tinkler rested some of his key players in the fixture against Sundowns, and he stressed that last Sunday’s clash against Magesi FC, which they drew 0-0, took priority over Wednesday’s encounter, and his side need to ensure they take full advantage of such fixtures in the future.
“We plan ahead; three days prior to the Sundowns game, we played Magesi, and for me, the Magesi game was the three points we needed to collect.
“To be able to compete at the highest level is not about beating Sundowns... It’s about beating the smaller teams. My planning and everything I do go according to that.
“I stick to my logic and protocols, and I believed the squad I put out against Sundowns would be able to compete, but we just lost to a better team.
The former Bafana Bafana midfielder expects a tough encounter against the KZN side, and he has praised the contribution of their coach.
“We do know their striker (Yanela Mbuthuma) is suspended (following a red card). Brandon is a coach that plays with a lot of aggression and intensity, and we have to match them in terms of that, and they are a counter-attacking team, pretty similar to Magesi,” Tinkler said.
💬 “Our target and objective is to bring a trophy back to Cape Town” says Head Coach, Eric Tinkler
— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC) October 31, 2024
“Let’s not think about the past, but look to the future. Our full focus now turns to our game against Richards Bay in the #CarlingKnockout” 🏆#iamCityFC pic.twitter.com/93oN4Ff32z
“We need to fix the issues we had against Magesi, to ensure we get a positive result.
“But I believe in the squad we have, and I believe the boys can put on the performance that can get us over the line.”