Amakhosi coach Muhsin Ertugral opted for a cynical approach to his team's current goal drought when he faced the media along with his opposite number Gavin Hunt from SuperSport United. While Ertugral and Hunt joked with each other at a press briefing in on Monday afternoon, as their teams prepare to do battle on Sunday in the Telkom Cup, both coaches know that only victory on the weekend will help lift the gloom which currently enshrouds their teams.

With both Chiefs and SuperSport having drawn their weekend encounters, they will be looking towards improving their fortunes in the cup on Sunday. Also on the top of Chiefs agenda will be for them to continue their recent dominance in Cup competitions over United. An important statistic for Chiefs to remember is that every time The Amakhosi overcome SuperSport in a Cup game they go on to win the tournament, so victory over United could well be a good omen for Chiefs and it could help them lift their game in league matches as well.

No Explanation

The Chiefs coach tried to take a light hearted approach to his team/s current misfortune in front of goal, and said that he could make no excuses for the team's below standard results in recent times.

Ertugral added “I am really at a loss as to how to explain to the thousands of fans who turned up at the stadium on Sunday and the previous matches, as to how we were unable to win these games. Three clear cut and dried opportunities were presented to us on Sunday against Stars and we failed to finish them off”, the Chiefs coach furthermore added “every game we go into I ask for 100% commitment from all the players, I expect them to give that on the field when we don’t win matches that we should be then it worries me that we are disappointing our fans”.

Finishing off

At the top of the Chiefs coach's agenda at the moment is SuperSport United and this weekend's Telkom Cup ¼ Final adventure, which will not be a breeze for The Amakhosi but will test them to the limit.

Ertugral has spoken of his frustration at his team's inability to score goals, and has promised to continue working on that aspect of his team's game in preparation for Sunday’s encounter. “We will obviously be working on a number of finishing drills through out the week, it is open for all to see that is one aspect of our game where we have been seriously lacking and we need to step it up a notch in that department” intoned Ertugral.

One better

Ertugral is thinking about going one better this season than he did a year ago when he was in charge of Ajax Cape Town, as they were the losing finalists in the 2006 – 2007 Telkom Cup Final. With the team who defeated him on that occasion, Platinum Stars, now out of the tournament the door is open for a new Telkom Cup Champion to be crowned this season.

The Amakhosi coach said to kaizerchiefs.com on this, “losing in last season's final was a bitter pill for me, but given the way we played against Swallows in the opening game of this years tournament. If we play with the same kind of verve, enthusiasm and energy I do not see us having many problems winning on Sunday”.

History in the past

In the meantime, SuperSport United Coach Gavin Hunt who is feeling the heat after his team drew their third consecutive game this season, when they played to a goalless draw with Ajax Cape Town over the weekend, said to kaizerchiefs.com that Chiefs recent spate of victories in cup matches over SuperSport is not of a concern to him.

Hunt said on Monday, “history has no bearing on Sunday’s game the game that is in front of us is important the past will not determine who walks away the winner from this game”. He went on to say, “it won’t be easy over coming Chiefs SuperSport though have done well in knock out competitions over the past three – four seasons and that demonstrates that we have the nerve to do well in the Cup”.