CAPE TOWN - Cape Town City coach Jan Olde Riekerink says his team has learnt to strike a balance between defence and attack.
After 14 rounds in the Premiership, City have scored the most goals (26) but have also conceded almost as many (21).
This has led to criticism that City have a suspect defence.
This week, City are preparing to host Bloemfontein Celtic in a Nedbank Cup round of 32 clash in the Mother City.
Olde Riekerink says his team has worked hard at shoring up their leaky defence. Celtic will prove formidable opposition and were Nedbank Cup runners-up last season.
"We had a bad experience in this round last year and we're mindful of that," said Olde Riekerink.
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"Celtic have a good team with lots of dynamics so we have to be well-prepared. We'll be playing in Cape Town and that will be the biggest benefit for us."
In the league, City's opponents have often cracked their defence by spreading strike points across a broad front.
This caused City's defence to be in disarray and hence the huge number of goals in the “against” column.
"We have learnt to strike a perfect balance between attack and defence so that will make it harder for teams to score against us," said Olde Riekerink.
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"This is a knockout game so it is not about how many goals you concede, but rather the number of goals you score.
“So long as you score more like AmaZulu did when they recently won 4-3.
"It is the way we play and sometimes we lose the ball in risky positions.
“We will have to improve when we are in transition so that we can be more effective.
"Our strength is scoring goals and creating chances.
“We have done well in that aspect. We cannot only concern ourselves with defence."
Celtic had a league match at Kings Park on Tuesday against AmaZulu who ran out eventual 4-3 winners in a seven-goal thriller.
City's last match was at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday when they were held to a 1-1 draw.