SuperSport United interim coach Andre Arendse has spoken highly of strike duo Christian Saile and Bradley Grobler for stepping up in their 2-0 victory over Chippa United in Polokwane over the weekend.
The two were on the score sheet to help Matsatsantsa move out of the relegation zone and into 13th place equal on 26 points with Golden Arrows behind them with three matches left to play.
In the previous game, Arendse had boldly spoken about the frustrations of having quality strikers who didn’t score. The coach said the duo has always had ability to score and he hopes their performance against the Chilli boys rubs off on their teammates.
“I think one of the things we had to fix was getting more numbers in the box,” Arendse answered iDiski Times when asked about the duo’s response to his comments.
“The last game we played, we only had one top striker with two on the sides. And the reason why I played Christian very close to Bradley tonight is because we wanted two strikers giving those back-four problems tonight.
“And of course, it’s just fitting that two strikers were the ones who scored goals for us and that’s what we want.
“Now that for me will bring confidence back into their goal scoring ability. It’s always been there, and I think when players like that get on the score sheet it makes the job of the others around them easier.”
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Meanwhile, the result also has seen the Tshwane-based outfit move to within four points of the top eight with Arendse saying the focus now is definitely on working to see if they can sneak into the top half because his side is top eight material and not a regelation scrap.
“It’s crazy isn’t it?” added the former South African international.
“Crazy [because] you’re busy fighting relegation and on the other hand you are four points out of top 8. When I took over the team, one of the first questions I asked the players, do they think we can make the top eight and all of a sudden, the penny dropped, and they realized exactly what you’re saying we’re actually not far from the top 8.
“And so that for me has to be the goal. I don’t entertain any talk around my team, my camp, about relegation. I don’t entertain it because this team, as many people would have seen tonight, they are far better than a relegation scrap. They are top 8 material as we stand right now.
“And that has to be the goal for my players to go and if we have to sneak in the back door for top 8 it’s the top 8 and that’s the goal for us right now. That is the motivation 100% it has to be the motivation because the top 8 is reachable, it’s gettable, and anything can happen.
“And we must always make sure with our performances like we did tonight, to give ourselves a chance of getting into that top 8.”
