Sekhukhune United coach Eric Tinkler has praised his solid defence following their goalless draw against Orlando Pirates.
Babina Noko were largely on the back foot for long spells but showed resilience at the back to grind out a valuable point against the title-chasing Buccaneers.
“One hundred percent, the defence won us a point,” Tinkler told SuperSport TV.
“We had to suffer a lot today. The disappointing part, like I said in the pre-match interview, is that we needed to be better on the ball and make fewer mistakes. In the first half, we couldn’t string three or four passes together and there were a lot of individual errors.”
Despite Pirates’ sustained pressure, Tinkler felt his side stood firm defensively, singling out a few standout performers.
“Against a team like Pirates, you’re always going to be put under pressure, but defensively we were solid,” he added.
“Bright had a great game, Danny had a great game, and I thought Renaldo, the goalkeeper, also had a great game. Offensively, though, it wasn’t a great performance at all, which is disappointing.”
The coach admitted Sekhukhune struggled to pose much of a threat going forward, creating very few clear-cut chances.
“We didn’t really create clear-cut chances in my view. We had one from a throw-in in the first half, but that was about it. Predominantly it was Pirates attacking us and us defending for our lives.”
Sekhukhune now face a demanding schedule, with a clash against Mamelodi Sundowns coming up on Tuesday evening – their third match in seven days.
“Exactly. You can see the players who played a couple of days ago are starting to feel it,” said Tinkler.
“It’s going to be about quick recovery now because we’ve got another massive game coming up against Sundowns.”
Despite the fatigue, Tinkler was encouraged by his team’s response after the break.
“In the second half there was improvement and there was fight, which is what we needed. That’s a positive I can take from the game,” he concluded.