SuperSport v Celtic Part II
Tinkler expects tough encounter
for him as well.”
Bryce also echoed the sentiments of Chiefs coach Steve Komphela, who praised the budding centre-forward’s lethal heading ability.
“The way he scores with his head makes him special,’’ Bryce proudly said.
“We are building a striker for South Africa not [only] for Chiefs,” said Komphela yesterday.
Ryan joined Chiefs from Maritzburg in 2016 and made a name for himself when he scored on his Bafana debut in a 2-0 win over Botswana in the African Nations Championship qualifier last year.
He is expected to lead the Amakhosi attack against Golden Arrows in the Nedbank Cup last 32 clash at FNB Stadium on Sunday. The Nedbank Cup first round match between Bloemfontein Celtic and SuperSport United at Dr Molemela Stadium on Sunday promises to be a circumspect affair because of the two sides’ rather blip league positions.
Celtic and SuperSport have been enduring a dreadful campaign with Phunya Sele Sele 10th on the log, having gone five games without a win, while Matsatsantsa are a point adrift on 24 points in 11th.
SuperSport coach Eric Tinkler admits that as much as he values the Ke Yona competition, his main target is to improve in the league, saying that he expects the same from Bloemfontein Celtic.
“Our priority has to be the league. We have massive league matches coming up.
“Those games are extremely important. We will play Platinum Stars and Ajax [in the next two weeks], but that does not mean we do not want to advance to the next round of this Cup,” he said yesterday during a media conference held at the league’s offices in Parktown.
“We need to be finishing in the top eight.
“I also think Celtic will come with that mentality because they have also had some inconsistent performances in the league, but it is going to be a difficult game.”
Despite beating them 4-2 in the league last week, Tinkler thinks Celtic’s home-ground advantage might help the team on Sunday.
“Yes we beat them [last Saturday], but we played there [at Dr Molemela Stadium] on two occasions in the Telkom Knockout [last October] and in the league [last December].
“In the Telkom we gave the game away when we were 2-0 up and losing it on penalties. We got a draw in the league. It is not an easy place to go to.”
‘‘ The way he scores with his head makes him special