Eric Tinkler keeps feet on the ground after Sekhukhune United thrash Kaizer Chiefs
Surprise league leaders: Sekhukhune United head coach Eric Tinkler wanted to keep his feet on the ground after they thrashed Kaizer Chiefs in a Betway Premiership clash on Tuesday night. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
Surprise Betway Premiership leaders Sekhukhune United kept their brilliant start to the season going when they thrashed Kaizer Chiefs 3-1 on Tuesday night.
The victory came against a Chiefs side that was also on a good run and hoping to move to the top of the table, proving that Babina Noko’s start to the season was no fluke.
Hot on their heels are reigning league champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who are chasing an eighth consecutive title. As a result, head coach Eric Tinkler is avoiding any talk that his team could be the one to dethrone the mighty Brazilians.
“We are definitely on the right path because of the results that we are achieving. Everyone spoke about Sundowns being poor, but they were sitting on top of the league a couple of hours ago,” said Tinkler, as quoted by Soccer Laduma.
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He continued: “We all have to compete against Mamelodi Sundowns even when they are going through a rough patch, but it’s not really a rough patch—they normally earn 12 points from 5 games, and they’ve earned 11. So calling it a bad spell is hard to believe."
He also acknowledged that in terms of squad depth, Sundowns were firm favourites to be at the top when the season concludes, and his job at Sekhukhune was to close that gap.
For Tinkler, the season was about consistency, picking up as many points as possible, and making sure they made life difficult for Sundowns. For now, there is no talk of a title challenge from Sekhukhune.
"It would be very premature for me to be saying we are going to be competing for the league. It is only six games in, and a lot of things can happen in a short space of time."
Sekhukhune’s next assignment in the league sees them host Golden Arrows on Saturday. They then tackle Chippa United next week before travelling to Polokwane City the following weekend. Their first match after the October international break will be against the champions.
Sekhukhune face tough tests in the coming weeks, and how they perform against Golden Arrows, Chippa United, and Polokwane City could define whether their surprise start has real staying power.
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