Rusike crucial in bid for Top 8
ZIMBABWEAN UNUSED TO PLAYING SO OFTEN Tinkler admits he will have to manage his star player.
In SuperSport United’s bid to manoeuvre their way into the top half of the Absa Premiership table, Eric Tinkler says his management of Evans Rusike will be key in their quest to finish the season in the top eight, where they will be presented with an opportunity to defend their MTN8 title next season.
SuperSport’s players are coming in on the back of a congested programme, where they had a hectic schedule in the past two months, catching up with the rest of the teams following their taxing engagement in last year’s Caf Confederation Cup.
Tinkler says although the Zimbabwean, who signed in the January transfer window, does bring a lot of energy into the team, they need to manage him as he is now faced with a fixture list he is not accustomed to.
“Rusike is also experiencing something that he did not experience at Maritzburg United. If you look at where he comes from, they are doing well when you look at their league position, but they only play one game every seven days,” said Tinkler.
“We are continuously playing every three days. This is now what he is confronting at the moment. It is also going to be hard for him because he is not used to it. He is used to playing every seven days. Now he has to play every three days. We also have to wrap him in cotton wool. We have to be careful what we do considering the energy he puts out.”
However, what is more important than everything else for Matsatsantsa is to pass their assignment tonight against Ajax Cape Town at Athlone Stadium.
They go up against Mushin Ertugral’s struggling Urban Warriors, who are in serious danger as they currently occupy the relegation play-off spot. With the jury still out on the Tendai Ndoro case, as the PSL have appealed a decision of its own dispute resolution chamber over Ndoro’s eligibility to play for Ajax, there’s the possibility they could be docked all points won when the Zimbabwean was used. Ajax need all the points they can get right now.