6 months ago
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Chippa United coach Kwanele Kopo has attributed the team's change of fortune to the hard work and character of the players over the past few weeks.
The Chilli Boys are one of the form teams in the Betway Premiership as they are fourth on the log table following two wins, a draw and a defeat in their four matches.
On Sunday, they continued with their good start when they beat struggling TS Galaxy 2-1 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium with goals from Bienvenu Eva Nga and Ayabulela Magqwaka, while Dzenan Zajmovic netted for the Rockets.
"I think we have had the worst preparations of all the teams. I spoke about the lack of friendly competition for us, we could only play a friendly after six or seven weeks [of preseason] and we only had four friendlies with Premiership teams," Kopo told the media after the match.
"So, we have not had good preparation from the competition perspective. But we had good preparation from a training perspective.
"This for us was more of a continuation from that period and you have to give credit to the players and staff. You could see in some games in the second half our tempo drops.
"When we lost to [Orlando] Pirates I said the difference was because of competition as the other team was sharper.
"We are getting sharper as the game goes and we are showing character. There is good character in the team, players are showing a high level of commitment and these guys want to work and want to achieve."
Kopo also challenged his troops to remain consistent and continue collecting points.
"We need to be consistent. We need to repeat this in the next four games and that is the challenge," he said.
"I've seen teams being number one in the first round and then fighting relegation. The good thing is we are getting the results, last season at this time the team had two points.
"Now we have seven points, yes, it is different oppositions but the accumulation of points is important. And the fact that we played two home games and won them is extremely important.
"But the challenge to everyone is consistency. We've got to be consistent so that's going to be a language when we come back after the break and if we start dropping points, this whole thing would be a fluke."
Chippa's next league match will be against Golden Arrows on October 26 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
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