JOHANNESBURG – Bidvest Wits marksman Eleazar Rodgers is tired of losing Telkom Knockout finals.
Now he wants to put that to bed when Wits face Bloemfontein Celtic in the title decider at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu on Saturday (6pm kickoff).
Cape-born striker Rodgers has twice been on the receiving end of losses with previous employers – he was at Mamelodi Sundowns in 2012 when the Brazilians lost in the final to Celtic at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
Joel Mogorosi was the hero for the Free Staters on the day.
Rodgers was again on the losing side against SuperSport United in 2014 as Platinum Stars succumbed to a 3-2 defeat.
“Last season was a good season for Wits. We won the league and also the MTN8. We will try and recreate that form against Celtic in the final,” he said.
“It won’t be easy, but hopefully this time around I will be able to help win the trophy – I’ve been close on two occasions.
“The Telkom and the Nedbank Cup are the only trophies I haven’t won in South Africa. My dream is to win all the cups.
“But Celtic are never an easy team to beat. They have exciting players and a good team. Defensively, they are solid. But it is going to be a good game.
“We don’t think we are going to work them over easily. We have to bring our A-game to beat them. They always want to do well and they always give us problems,” Rodgers said.
Wits humbled Sundowns 3-0 in the final of the MTN8 last season at Mbombela Stadium.
“We have been doing well in the Telkom Cup. You know, we have to win it. We will move forward and try and build on things we need to work on as the team – winning the Telkom Cup will give us a boost in the league,” Rodgers said.
It is no secret that Wits have been terrible in the Premiership this season. They are currently on the bottom of the log, having won just two matches out of 11.
“I wouldn’t say we are not doing well in the league. Obviously in the cup you have to win to advance to the next round, but the league is like a marathon. We have been playing well but we have been conceding goals and we haven’t been winning,” Rodgers said.
“We have to continue to push to keep on playing well and converting chances we create. Against Maritzburg we got a point away, and that is a positive to us. We have to take it and try to win our next league match as well.
“I think it is far-fetched to say anything about winning the league. We have to take one game at a time. We have to move up the log first. Once we get into the top three, we will see how our chances are,” Rodgers said.
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