Players' mental shift will yield results

Sekhukhune United coach Kaitano Tembo wants his team to develop mental strength and game management to get more positive results.

Tembo's charges find themselves in 15th place in the DStv Premiership and are not looking in good shape at the moment. The enthusiasm that came with full relocation to Polokwane, a new coach and new marquee players seem to have faded away.

Babina Noko is currently on a string of bad results. In their last four matches they have lost three and drew once. Their latest defeat was at the hands of Royal AM where they were beaten 2-1 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.

With the league moving at a fast pace, Sekhukhune will want to wake up from their slump before it's too late. For them to do that, their head coach wants them to have mental resilience in matches, understanding that the team is relatively new.

Tembo wants the senior players to lead from the front. “We have been playing well, creating better opportunities than our opponents but not taking them," said Tembo.

"Mental strength, that’s what we need to work on. We need to be a little bit stronger, we need to show a little bit of character. If I look at the team we have got experienced players, no young players in the team. We have experienced players that should be able to manage the game in different phases.

“This is a new team, we have players that are from different clubs. So we are trying to be a team. The work that we have been putting behind the scenes real soon will start reaping the results," he said.

The road in the Premiership does not get any easier for Tembo; today his team will square off with Eric Tinkler's Cape Town City at the Athlone Stadium at 7.30pm.

The former SuperSport United mentor is expecting a tough outing. "Another tough game, we have to keep our heads up. We have to focus because it won’t be an easy game. We’ll try to freshen the team a little bit and bring in new faces. It’s been tough for us. We just have to stay positive," said Tembo.