Brave Warriors coach John Sikerete is optimistic about overturning their 1-0 deficit against Lesotho when the two sides meet in their second leg encounter next Sunday.
Lesotho won their African Championship (Chan) first leg match for local-based players in Bloemfontein on Saturday after a 21st minute goal by Hlompho Kalake, but Sikerete, who was in charge of the Brave Warriors for the first time, said he was encouraged by their display.
“We played very well. The boys were a bit nervous in the first half, because they only trained together for two days and made some mistakes. But nonetheless, in the second half we came back very strongly when we introduced mostly ball players, and we got about four clear chances that we could not convert,” he said.
Sikerete made three second half changes, bringing on attacking players Godwin Eiseb, Simon Elago and Lawrence Doeseb and he said they made a big difference.
“Lesotho went to defend deep and they were really defending for their life. We were running over the whole midfield but we couldn’t capitalise on our chances. But at least I have a clear picture, and I have seen who can play where,” he added.
“As you know, it’s a new team with a new technical team, so now we have to start working together, so that we can create something between the coaching staff and the players,” he said.
Sikerete said we was confident of overturning their deficit in the return leg which also takes place in Bloemfontein next Sunday.
“The spirit in the camp is high and we all believe that we can overturn the first leg result if we do what we did in the second half on Saturday. For me it was a great experience and I hope for better in the future, especially in the second leg. We really need to do what we can do and in order to get the better result that we all need,” he added.
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