Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler has explained why substitued top scorer Khanyisa Mayo early against Kaizer Chiefs, saying he was even considering not starting him.
The South Africa international forward has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after comments from head coach Hugo Broos who said he needed to see more influence beyond his goals.
While he’s on course to challenge for a Golden Boot for a consecutive season with nine league goals to his name so far, his display in the 1-1 draw against Andorra left a lot to be desired.
The travelling fatigue was undoubtedly brutal this week for Mayo who lasted an hour and made only eight touches of the ball.
“I’ll be brutally honest. I was considering not starting him because it’s brutal. what he had to go through,” Tinkler said after the game at Athlone Stadium.
“From Algeria, it was probably an hour and a half drive to the airport. Then it’s a six-hour flight to Dubai. Then it’s a four-hour layover in Dubai. Then it’s a flight to Joburg.
“And then it’s another two hours before he comes back here. And he arrived on Thursday afternoon. Friday he came to training and I was considering not starting him. But at the same time, I have a youngster Jody [Ah Shene] how fair is it to throw Jody in the deep end right from the first whistle?
“But I sat with Mayo, I said to him, how do you feel? No, I feel rested. He went to cryo which we hoped would would help him.
“So he did a cryo session, but somewhere along the line, it was going to happen whether I started him or if I didn’t start him.
“There was always going to be fatigue in his legs. But I chose to start him today and he struggled. He struggled. But Mayo is our top goalscorer, and that I cannot ignore.”
