Chippa can beat Baroka if we pull together – Tinkler

Chippa United coach Eric Tinkler expects Baroka to give his side a run for their money when the two PSL outfits meet at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane on Saturday.

The former SuperSport United mentor admitted that the Chilli Boys have experienced a bit of turbulence in the tightly contested premier league.

They are at the bottom of the log on just one point.

“Everybody is fighting for points and Baroka won’t be any different, but what is important is that we come with a solid game plan.

“If we stick to our game plan, be positive and put in a lot of hard work, I believe that you’ll get your just reward,” Tinkler said as the team arrived in East London on Thursday.

“My feelings are positive and they have to be, because my behaviour will always reflect the players.

“I believe that we’ve got a good enough squad to get ourselves out of the position we find ourselves in, and that has to start on Saturday.”.

Tinkler said they had been working on the way they defend. “We have to work on our structure – how we defend, how we press, how we defend at set-pieces.

“There was very poor organisation when it came to that.

“And the way the goals have been conceded [was] way too easy, and if you can fix that, [it] is the most important thing.

“Right now we need to try to keep clean sheets.

“[That way] we’ll win more than we’ll lose.

“So that was obviously the first priority.

“Second priority is getting forward and creating opportunities to score goals.”

Tinkler said he was glad that his charges managed to create much-needed opportunities when they lost 2-1 to SuperSport United.

“That was what I saw against SuperSport, we created a number of those [opportunities], and I think we deserved more out of that game.

“So that’s what we tried to work on with the two weeks we’ve had as a team.

“I have been speaking to the boys, and I explain to everyone that the responsibility doesn’t [rest] on the defence.

“Defence starts from the front, so when you lose possession, the first person that needs to press and try to win it back has got be the striker.

“So the responsibility is everybody’s, we defend together, we attack together – that has to be the philosophy and that’s how I want us to play.”

To make sure everyone pulls their weight in helping the team improve their performance, Tinkler said there would be no guarantees to players usually in the starting lineup that they would be included in the squad. –

‘If we stick to our game plan, be positive and put in a lot of hard work, I believe that when you work hard you’ll get your just reward’ Eric Tinkler

CHIPPA UNITED COACH