Eric Tinkler's caution: Sekhukhune United must not underestimate Golden Arrows

A less experienced coach might approach a match against a team he has only recently beaten with a sense of complacency – perhaps even bordering on cockiness. After all, when you’ve earned maximum points against an opponent just a few days ago, logic suggests you should be able to repeat the feat, right?

It stands to reason then that Sekhukhune United should be favourites to win their Carling Knockout first-round clash against Golden Arrows this weekend. Ba Bina Noko beat Abafana Bes’thende 1-0 in Polokwane on 20 September and will make the trip down to Durban confident of securing a place in the quarter-final draw.

Yet listening to Eric Tinkler at the competition’s media conference in Bryanston on Thursday, you’d have sworn Sekhukhune were preparing to face a bogey side.

It could well have been gamesmanship, as local football’s most famous redhead talked up Arrows’ chances. But then again, Tinkler is a realist – an experienced campaigner who knows never to take anything for granted. As he looked ahead to Saturday’s clash, he cautioned his team against thinking they simply need to show up for the game to be won.

Not after he had endured some heart palpitations in that narrow victory, secured through a stoppage-time Bradley Grobler goal; and especially not with Arrows having undergone a massive transformation since that defeat, winning their two matches since then. Contrast that with Sekhukhune suffering their first league loss, and you have the makings of a much closer contest.

“Obviously, it is a difficult trip away from home. We would have liked the draw to be favourable and given us a home match. Arrows are a difficult team – we played them not so long ago and managed to beat them. But their form has improved and they got a fantastic result against (Mamelodi) Sundowns. So we know it is going to be a very, very tough game for us.”

Tinkler was generous in his praise for the man in the opposite dugout.

“Manqoba (Mngqithi) is an exceptional coach. He loves possession-based football and likes to play from the back. He wants his players to be comfortable on the ball and he looks to play through phases, similar to what he was doing at Mamelodi Sundowns," he said.

"Over the past two matches against Sundowns and Orbit College, those principles are starting to be applied, so they can be a massive threat through the channels and the middle. We’ve got to be really, really good on the day. We have to be structured, organised and disciplined, because if not they can hurt you.”

Do not, however, mistake all the praise for Arrows as Tinkler conceding the tie. Far from it – the former Bafana Bafana hardman is determined to deliver silverware with Sekhukhune, and he knows the knockout competition presents a golden opportunity to do exactly that.

“We want to achieve things and the plan is to win at least one of the cup competitions, so we are going to try and get through to the next round.”

The loss in the Polokwane derby, he insists, has not dented team spirit.

“It does not mean a lot,” he said. “The players should recognise that they’ve done very well because no team has come and slaughtered us. In the majority of the games we played, we had the bulk of the possession and created the most opportunities. The last game was just a blip – we made one mistake and we were punished.

“The reality is that we started the league well, but it is all about consistency. We don’t want to lose two games in a row after losing in the league to Polokwane City. We are looking to get back to winning ways and see ourselves in the next round of the Carling Knockout.”

And he knows better than anyone that progression is not guaranteed simply because they were the victors the last time they played Golden Arrows.