Chippa United coach Brando Trutter confident ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns clash ‘but it’s the last third that is a concern for me’

Chippa United head coach Brandon Truter has identified his team's lack of efficiency in the attacking areas as the primary hurdle ahead of their high-profile clash against Mamelodi Sundowns at Buffalo City Stadium on Saturday.

The Chilli Boys have struggled to convert their build-up play into tangible results, finding the net only twice in their last five league outings.

Speaking on the tactical balance of his squad, the former AmaZulu and Sekhukhune United mentor was honest about where the team needs to improve to compete with the elite.

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

"But we will prepare and focus on [Saturday],” he said, according to Sowetan.

The memory of a 3-0 loss to Orlando Pirates still lingers for Truter, who believes his side was more competitive than the scoreline suggested.

He noted that individual errors were the catalyst for that defeat and has challenged his players to maintain total concentration for the full 90 minutes against the Brazilians.

“The game against the African Champions presents the challenge again."

"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,” he said.

Despite the looming threat of the CAF Champions League winners, Truter is drawing confidence from his team's improved start compared to the previous campaign.

He believes that the foundation of being difficult to beat will eventually lead to more victories if the team can find their scoring boots.

“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."

"At this stage, we had one-point last season, we will keep going,” he said.

The venue switch to East London provides a fresh backdrop for this encounter, and Truter is hoping the home support will act as a twelfth man.

However, he is under no illusions regarding the quality of the opposition.

Mamelodi Sundowns represent the gold standard in South African football, and Truter’s game plan revolves around defensive organisation and clinical finishing.

As the match approaches, the focus remains on whether Chippa can bridge the gap between their solid defensive structure and their stuttering attack.

“The only game we lost was against Pirates, which we also managed to go toe-to-toe about 60 minutes and you can see even in the past games every opponent Pirates have faced, they scored in first half,” he said.