Tembo not bothered by lack of depth in his SuperSport squad

When Kaitano Tembo looks across his neighbours, Mamelodi Sundowns, squad, he cannot help but marvel at the quality Rulani Mokwena and Manqoba Mngqithi have at their disposal.

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Be that as it may, Tembo is not entirely bothered by the lack of depth and quality in his SuperSport United squad.

Tembo did not sign anyone in this transfer window, which shuts down at the end of the month. He is banking on his current crop, mixed with a few youngsters who were promoted from the club’s academy. One of those rookies is Gape Moralo, who made his debut against Orlando Pirates in the season that preceded the last.

“When we are talking about resources, we are talking about a club that can have three quality players in one position and might have one, and the rest are young players who we are looking to give opportunities to. At Sundowns when there is no Peter Shalulile, there is Kermit Erasmus and Gift Motupa. But I am not complaining about that, we just have to try and work with what we have and we are in the right direction,” said Tembo.

“In terms of where the team is going, it was something that was discussed because we have got an academy and we need to try and use that and make sure that we develop players. We want to stay competitive and still use our own resources from the academy which we spend a lot of money in.

“There are clubs like Sundowns who have a bigger budget and they are in a better position to win it because they have better quality and depth. At the same time we have to go out there and fight for it because all the teams in the league have to fight for it,” Tembo added.

The SuperSport mentor, who is gearing up his side for the season opener as they take on Golden Arrows in the MTN8 quarterfinal this Saturday, says they want to set their foot in the right direction and they intend to compete for league honours.  

“If we can be consistent in a few areas [we can do better] and I think we have the ability to do that. Although we lack in terms of depth, we have to set higher targets for our players and we always want to go out and compete,” said the United coach.

He concluded: “We are in this league to challenge for it but if you challenge for it, it does not mean you are going to win it. We always want to give it a go and the previous three seasons we have always been in the top three so that shows we have the ability and the right mentality to challenge for the league.”