Black Leopards have said they are putting extra effort towards fixing their defensive frailties ahead of their Absa Premiership clash with the high-scoring Kaizer Chiefs at Thohoyandou Stadium this afternoon (3.30pm).
Leopards have struggled to tighten their defence, conceding 27 goals in 17 league outings while the Amakhosi have rattled the net on 36 occasions in the same number of games.
That Lidoda Duvha have changed their technical team has not helped their situation.
They now hope Cavin Johnson will steer their ship to safety following a poor first round of games. Johnson, a victim of early dismissal at AmaZulu this season, has openly said he will prioritise discipline at the back as a start in building his team.
“Our main problem has been conceding goals in the critical phases of the game. Against Bloemfontein Celtic we were 2-0 down in the first 20 minutes. Against Chippa United we were 1-0 down in 30 seconds. We need to fix that before the Chiefs game. We have to work on our mentality.
"Once we start to keep clean sheets our confidence will be back,” said Johnson about his rescue strategy for the Limpopo club.
Leopards have been so fragile and vulnerable at the back that they have only managed two clean sheets in 17 league matches.
Chiefs have only failed once to find the back of the net in the league so far this season and that was when they lost 1-0 to Polokwane City. That statistic should be cause for consternation for
Johnson.
“We are playing at home and we will try and use that to our advantage. We will have a go at them and I know that they will also have a go at us. It is going to be a good game of football.
"Mentally, we have to be strong against Chiefs. We have to stay focused the whole 90 minutes and make use of our chances when we create them,” Johnson said.
He believes there can be no better stimulation for his players to return to winning ways than getting points against Chiefs.
“Playing Chiefs is always a motivation. Players are always pumped up for such matches but that doesn’t mean that it is easy to prepare for them. Anyone who is saying that is smoking something. They play different brand of football. We’ve got to deal well with their aerial threat,” Johnson elaborated.
Leopards are second from the bottom on the log with 16 points, the same as their neighbours Baroka FC. Only goal difference separates them from Baroka.
“We are not happy with our log position. We need to start collecting points so that we will get away from the relegation zone.
"Home matches are going to be important in terms of achieving that, starting with the game against Chiefs. We have to be at our best to get the result against Chiefs. It won’t be easy at all,” Johnson stated.
@minenhlecr7
Saturday Star
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