BACKPAGE phakaaathi.co.za No distraction for Eric
KEKANA: COACH TINKLER IS PURELY FOCUSING ON WHAT OUR TEAM CAN DO
Defender and his team already have two trophies in the cabinet.
SuperSport United defender Grant Kekana says coach Eric Tinkler chose the route of focusing on his own his team ahead of the MTN8 final instead of giving his side intelligence on Cape Town City’s probable strategy.
Matsatsantsa and Benni McCarthy’s City will meet in a replay of last season’s Telkom Knockout final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday. One would assume that coach Tinkler knows the culture of the City team who he led to their first domestic cup title in that Telkom final about 10 months ago. Now, however, with McCarthy at the helm, Kekana reckons a lot has changed since.
“We have to look at the fact that Benni is there now and things have changed now,” he told Phakaaathi.
“Instead of telling us the ins and out of City, he is motivating us to play to the best of our ability and if we work hard on the day, our ability will pull us through.
“It is just about how we plan and it is not going to be easy because City have had a good start to the season and they have a new coach so everything from them has been impressive so far.
“We are not expecting anything less than a tough challenge and we have to work hard and hope that the result favours us at the end of the match.”
Kekana has already tasted cup success with two back-to-back Nedbank Cup titles already in the bag, and he has the cup final temperament about him. However, he reveals that the likes of Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Morgan Gould, who have won a lot more in their careers, are inspirational figures for City.
“Even in training, when preparing for a league game, they always emphasise the importance of always working hard and not letting the hype of a final get to us because some of us in the squad are relatively young – they calm us to make sure we are able to play our normal game.
“Any final is always hard and this one is not going to be any different – it is not every day that you get to play in a final. As professional players we all want to win trophies, that is the main objective.”