Players have to step up – Tinkler

Matsatsantsa are set to face the defending champions on Sunday in Lubumbashi, as they look to become the first Southern Africa side to win the tournament in its current format.

“We go into this game with a few injuries and suspensions and players need to step up, that is what we try to relay to the players,” Tinkler told reporters on Wednesday.

“We have a long season ahead of us and we have a big final ahead of us. We are probably going to have eight games in January and somewhere along the lines players are going to be called upon. What I put to them was: are they going to be ready?

Tinkler continued: “It is a fantastic opportunity for a club like SuperSport to come away with their first continental trophy. We are obviously well aware that we are going into game with a team that is very experienced. But the moral in camp is very good and we are looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge but it is going to be a mammoth path.”

Tinkler will be without veteran campaigners in Reneilwe “Yeye” Letsholonyane and Morgan Gould on Sunday. However, he relies on the depth of his side to see him through what is expected to be a tough encounter in Lubumbashi.

“It is all about team building because going forward from now we are going to be relying on the depth that we have in the squad and that’s the experience I gained from Orlando Pirates. The question that was always put was: do we have the depth in the squad?”