CAPE TOWN – It’s still too early to tell where Maritzburg United stand in terms of readiness for their clash on Sunday against Black Leopards, according to coach Eric Tinkler.
It’s been five months since high-flying Maritzburgers took to the field, and Sunday’s game against Lidoda Dhuva is their first under the current climate the sport finds itself in.
Tinkler, who has guided The Team of Choice to an impressive sixth place in the league so far, was unable to tell how ready they are for the clash against Black Leopards.
“To be honest, it’s very difficult for me to assess if we are ready or not,” the former Bafana Bafana midfielder was quoted by the club’s website.
“These are trying times, to be out of the game as long as we were, around four months… we’ve only really been back to training for the past five weeks.
🗣 Coach Eric’s pre-match comments
— Maritzburg United FC (@MaritzburgUtd) August 14, 2020
“These are trying times, to be out of the game as long as we were, around four months. We’ve only really been back to training for the past five weeks.#WeAreUnited #BlueArmy #TeamOfChoice pic.twitter.com/q3fHk4okMG
“It’s difficult – especially when you’re not playing any friendly games – to assess whether the players are going to be ready or not. But I’m very happy with what I’ve seen from the guys in training. We’ll only truly know come match day.
Tinkler’s men had won four games in a row before the league – and sport around the world – was brought to an abrupt halt by the spread of the coronavirus that has killed over 700 000 people worldwide and 11 500 in South Africa.
That form before the lockdown saw the small KZN Midlands club flying among the big boys, and Tinkler hopes the club can continue that form despite allowing captain Siyanda Xulu to leave when his contracted ended two months ago.
“We would like to continue in the form we showed before lockdown and would obviously like to get a positive result against Leopards,” said Tinkler.
“The fact that we’re playing in Joburg will help us – it benefits us in that it’s not a long trip to Thohoyandou, even if we did get good results there over the past year.”
IOL Sport