Chippa eye victory in Highlands clash

Chippa United coach Eric Tinkler is aiming to double his winnings in the Absa Premiership when his side takes on newly promoted Highlands Park on Saturday night, at Makhulong Stadium (8.15pm).

The Chilli Boys will go into the match oozing confidence after their 1-0 victory against Free State Stars on Wednesday night, at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The win saw the Port Elizabeth-based club rise from 15th to ninth on the log.

Chippa had a slow start to the season, recording their first league win after four games after Tinkler joined the team.

The former Supersport United and Orlando Pirates mentor has two successes, one draw and one defeat from the four matches he has managed.

Tinkler, 48, said they will have to work twice as hard than they did on Wednesday night if they want to beat Highlands, especially given they are playing at home.

“Keeping the winning momentum is very important. There are no guarantees in this league now,” the coach said.

“Even though Highlands have come from the National First Division I think they have already shown that they are a strong and a difficult team to beat at home.

“Also their brand of football is very aggressive and we are going to go there and match them.

“They (Highlands) come off a draw against Chiefs and you could see how happy they were with collecting that point. So, they are going to come highly motivated, but we also come there now in different spirit and mind.”

The former Bafana Bafana hero said the trick was to have a solid defensive line.

“It’s difficult to be chasing games when you are 0-1 down, so we want to make sure that defensively we are solid and organised.

“Also, our transitional play needs a lot of improvement and that is something we are working on.”