United tired of being chasers

SuperSport United head coach Kaitano Tembo has sent a message to cross-town rivals Mamelodi Sundowns and Swallows FC, as the chase hots up for DStv Premiership honours.

Matsatsantsa A Pitori are hoping to have a view from the summit and Tembo is keen to see how things would unfold if it were his club that were leading the race for the title.

Downs are currently in the driving seat, five points clear at the top, but SuperSport can reduce that to only two at the halfway stage of the season if they beat Bloemfontein Celtic today.

“When you are chasing, you are focusing on your game and on the opponents’ game.

“So you are actually playing two games every time you play. We want to try and see what it’s like to be up there,” said Tembo.

“The past two seasons we have been chasing and I think we have always had a chance to win it but we always just lacked a little bit of consistency.

“We always want to be there (at the top) to see how we are able to handle the pressure... we have a lot of young players,” he added.

Tembo’s side will want to bounce back against Celtic, coming off a disappointing defeat in the Nedbank Cup at the hands of Tshakhuma FC.

However, Tembo believes that his team has had enough time to cry over their loss and have, in turn, prepared well for Phunya Sele Sele.

“Players always need to be prepared because we are playing for 90-plus minutes in each and every game,” said Tembo.

“But at the same time as well, we need to try and help them tactically in terms of what we are trying to do in the event we are either trailing or leading in a game.

“We always try to make sure that all our players are focused for the whole game.

“By doing so for the full duration of a match is exactly what goes a long way towards winning us games,” added the SuperSport United coach.