Chippa United target sharper finishing in Mamelodi Sundowns test

Chippa United manager Brandon Truter says his side must cut out costly mistakes and improve their finishing when they host Mamelodi Sundowns in a league match at Buffalo City Stadium on Saturday (5.30pm).

The Chilli Boys have scored only twice in five matches, drawing four and losing once. Their only defeat came against defending champions Orlando Pirates, who won 3-0 after taking advantage of three errors.

Truter wants his players to show greater discipline against Mamelodi Sundowns, the CAF Champions League winners, and make the most of the opportunities they create.

“The game against the African Champions presents the challenge again,” Truter said.

“We were against the SA champions, we made three mistakes, and they punished us. So, let’s see if we can eliminate those mistakes, let’s see if we can put more discipline and turn the chances into goals. That will be our benchmark and objectives for this week because we won’t get those many [chances] against Sundowns, and that will be a challenge for us. But we will prepare and focus for Sunday.”

Despite Chippa United’s lack of victories, Truter believes the team’s unbeaten record in four of their five matches is helping to build confidence. He also wants them to convert draws into wins, beginning with the meeting against Sundowns.

“We are building confidence in a sense that we are not losing, let’s respect Pirates for being the champions. A point in this league is valuable, we will turn this one point into three, I’m confident about it,” he said.

Truter said Chippa United had made progress compared with the same stage last season, when they had one point. He also praised the way his players competed with Orlando Pirates for much of their previous meeting.

“At this stage, we had one point last season, we will keep going. The only game we lost was against Pirates, which we also managed to go toe-to-toe for about 60 minutes and you can see even in the past games every opponent Pirates have faced, they scored in the first half.

“The boys are growing nicely, but it’s the last third that is a concern for me – the chance we create.”