- We will take it one game at time
- Feels management needs to come to the party
LETLHOGILE MPUANG
Mochudi Centre Chiefs coach Itumeleng Duiker says his side will not press panic buttons and succumb to pressure as a result of their current standing on the BTC Premiership log, he believes it is still early days to suggest that his side are one of the early relegation candidates this season.
The 2014/15 league champions leapfrogged struggling Black Forest over the weekend following their 2-2 draw against Extension Gunners to move into 15th position on the league table. Magosi have currently accumulated nine points, a single win, eight defeats and six draws from just 15 games. The club’s struggles date back to 2016, when the club parted ways with their then investors the Jamali family. Last season Chiefs finished outside the top 8 bracket for first time in the club’s recent history.
Speaking in his post match remarks following their weekend’s game, the former Extension Gunners coach, who has since been elevated to head coach following the exit of Philani Mabhena last week, had nothing but praise for his team, which he revealed had only two days of training before the game.
“It was a fair game, even looking at the way the guys played. Towards the end Gunners were all over us. We had the first half, we created chances, but we failed to make use of them. But at least there is light, we managed to score two goals, and we hope to improve more on it,” Duiker told journalists.
“I think we showed here today that we are not a bad team, I think if the boys were fit and trained well, we could have played an even better game. The second round has just started and its do or die, but all we need to do is take every game as it comes, anything can happen, all need to do is just keep working and pushing hard, even our fitness levels.”
Quizzed on what he felt his side should improve on in this last round of the season, Duiker said, “First round was just a mess, we needed to sit down as players and management and concentrate on what we want to achieve. We need to make sure that we do our part on the field and leave the management to do their part as well. In all honestly, if you were to look back at the first round, we would even come to games without training, the whole week, which is not football. Football needs to be enjoyed.”
“We are not under any pressure. We are aware of our standings on the log, but it is still early days. All we need to do is concrete, we not even thinking about surviving and relegation, we are taking one game at time, we will prepare for the next game, and that is how we will get out of this situation,” concluded the former Gunners great.