DURBAN, February 14 (Absa Premier League) – Assistant Thanda Royal Zulu coach Johan Eriksson is desperate for his side to build on their first victory of 2009 last week when they take on city rivals Golden Arrows at the Mpumalanga Stadium on Sunday.
The Hammarsdale club turned in a sterling performance six days ago when they strode past defending Absa Premier League champions and the current leaders Supersport United 3-1 in Pretoria.
It was an all more remarkable result considering it came on the back of four straight losses for the Amabhubesi, who now have renewed confidence ahead of the game against Arrows.
“It was absolutely a big relief to win last week,” said Eriksson. “The boys turned in a really good performance. It was a solid team performance more than anything. We really worked our socks off to produce that effort and hopefully we can replicate that this weekend.
“I think we worked a little bit more on determination as a team and everybody seemed to contribute. The tactics were good and we stuck to it, kept believing and we finally got the result.
“I don’t think many people expected us to win against Supersport. Obviously it was nice coming from four straight losses. Not only the losses, but especially the previous two games against Celtic and Amazulu were very poor performances.
“So it was very nice to turn it around and show ourselves that we can actually play good football if we wanted to.”
The Swede has however refused to rule out Abafana Bes’thende, despite a poor run that has seen them take just a point in their last three outings.
He added: “Arrows are a very good team, they are a side that I admire quite a bit. They play very nice football and if they have an on day, they can be very difficult to stop, so we will need to work hard to match our performance from last week.”
Good news for Roger Palmgren’s team is that they have an injury-free squad, with the only suspension being defender Tonic Chabalala, who was dismissed at Supersport.
Manqoba Mngqithi’s Arrows team are in an even better position, with their entire squad now available.
Public relations manager Zwelethu Mzolo is quietly confident his side can come away with all the points on Sunday.
He said: “It’s going to be an exciting game, especially because it’s a derby and as you know, you can never predict a derby. Anything can happen and we also want points, but we are confident we can triumph.
“This is a vital game because we want to finish in the top eight and need to start collecting points again now, rather than leaving it for the end of the season.
“The technical team has identified some of the problems in the squad and things that need to be worked on.”