Promotion ‘is a pipe-dream’

Newly appointed University of Pretoria coach Ziphozonke Dlangalala is happy with the spirit in the team but believes it would be unfair to put his players under pressure to fight for promotion now.

Dlangalala believes a team need to prepare well for promotion and know from the onset that their target is promotion otherwise things can go awry.

“Every aspect of the team has to be ready for promotion. It is not about seeing that the team are now in second spot and then decides to go for promotion. That can be detrimental.

“Look at what happened to Tembisa Classic and Thanda Royal Zulu. They had to sell their statuses when they were promoted because some structures were not ready,” the former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns assistant coach said.

Dlangalala said he didn’t have much time to influence the team before their first game, a 3-1 win over Witbank Spurs.

“Like I said the team are capable of winning but sometimes they lose. I can’t say just because we won last week that it will happen again. I am trying to give everyone a chance to see what they can offer us.”

AmaTuks are away to Royal Eagles at Chatsworth Stadium in Durban this afternoon and Dlangalala said he expects an explosive match.

“Eagles have shown their intent. Their win in Venda last weekend shows they are a capable team and want to achieve things.”