CAPE TOWN - Complacency has been uppermost in Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler’s thoughts all week. He has drilled into the heads of his players the need to avoid it ad nausea, and at training he’s worked them as hard as, perhaps even harder than, he would for any fixture against a top team in the PSL.
City are in Mpumalanga on Sunday to face Second Division team Acornbush United in a Nedbank Cup last 32 tie at the Kabokweni Stadium near Nelspruit (kick-off 3pm) - and Tinkler wants to avoid a repeat of his team’s implosion after last year’s Telkom Knockout Cup victory.
“It’s important that we get through, that we win,” said Tinkler. “We don’t want to be where we are in the league and then spoil it all by slipping up against a lower league team. This game can humble you You saw after we won the Telkom Knockout, we lost at home to Platinum Stars. It’s important that we apply ourselves and put in the right amount of effort.
“It’s easy to be complacent after last week’s win over Mamelodi Sundowns and I want to avoid that. The preparation has been no different, we’ve prepared as we would for any other PSL club. As far as I am concerned, we have to come through this with a good performance and a positive result.”
On Friday, City’s superb form this season was rewarded with a Bafana Bafana call-up for captain Lebogang Manyama and goalkeeper Shu-aib Walters. Considering how much work, both mentally and physically, Manyama has put in, you would think that Tinkler would offer his captain a breather.
Not so The City coach insisted that Manyama will play on Sunday, which is an indication of how important the game is and how desperate the coach is that his players do not succumb to complacency.
“I will be making a few changes, not eight or nine, that would be crazy,” said Tinkler. “I’m making a few selections that will benefit the team. I can assure you each and every change we make will have been carefully scrutinised.”
As for the opposition, Acornbush, they are certainly not an unknown quantity to Tinkler.
“I know a bit about them,” said the City coach.
“Last season, during my time with Orlando Pirates, we had our pre-season camp in Nelspruit and played a friendly against Acornbush. I also know quite a few people in the area who have given me some information about their strengths and weaknesses. I can tell you that they currently top the league they play in”
The big question, of course, is: Having already won the Telkom Knockout last year, does Tinkler have his eye on winning another one (Nedbank Cup)?
“No, we are not thinking about that. For us, it’s always about game by game,” he said.
“We don’t look too far ahead, we just focus on the next game. Yes, we have tasted success and we would love to continue to do so, but our efforts right now is geared to getting to the next round. After that, we’ll think about the next game”.