Sekhukhune United coach Cedric Kaze is demanding more from his players after what he described as a below-par performance during their 1-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 semifinal first leg at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.
Babina Noko will face the Buccaneers again in the league on Tuesday at Orlando Stadium and meet on Saturday in the return leg at the same venue.
Kaze was not happy with how his players performed, as he believes they played with fear against the Buccaneers and expects an improvement on Tuesday.
“Yeah, obviously we are going away at a disadvantage in the second leg, especially away, but if you want to win something, those are the moments you have to go through,” Kaze told the media during the post-match press conference.
“It’s up to us to come with a strong mindset and a strong belief that we can reverse the situation.”
Deon Hotto scored the only goal of the match before the interval to give Pirates an advantage heading into the second leg, and Kaze said they will do everything to turn the results around.
“The most important thing is that we have 90 minutes to play, and it is up to us to maximise the chances and take the situation hands-on,” he said.
“It’s three games in one week, so there are a lot of components that come into play. The physical side, the physiological side of those games. One is a league game, and the other is the second leg of the semifinal.
“You need to twist some things as well as make some adjustments in terms of rotations because today [Saturday] was very hard, it was very hot and you could see the players were a bit heavy.
“But we’ve got to do what it takes to go into those two games in better shape.”
League fixtures
All midweek matches will start at 7.30pm
Tuesday: Gallants vs Galaxy, Royal Bafokeng, Pirates vs Sekhukhune, Orlando; Kruger vs Durban, Mbombela; Siwelele vs Chippa Free State.
Wednesday: Arrows vs Stellenbosch, King Zwelithini; Sundowns vs AmaZulu, Loftus Versfeld; Polokwane vs Milford, Old Peter Mokaba; Bay vs Chiefs, Princess Magogo.
Sowetan