Moorosi Tsiane
LIKHOPO coach Halemakale Mahlaha is confident that his charges will bounce back from their humiliating 3-1 loss to rookies Galaxy at Maputsoe DIFA Ground last Saturday.
Likhopo have collected four points in seven matches winning one, drawing one and losing the rest a fate which Mahlaha blamed on the league break coupled with excitement of his youthful side.
“We didn’t start the season well but we were at the turning point before the league break for the Independence Cup a fortnight ago and I think that break worked against us as we lost the momentum,” Mahlaha said.
Likhopo went into the break after registering their first league win this season with a 2-0 victory against Sefotha-fotha and Mahlaha said excitement from that triumph could be another factor that led to last weekend’s loss.
“My team is made up of mostly young players and I think they got excited by the win over Sefotha-fotha because they had been struggling. They got excited and we lost a match which I think we were supposed to win.
“We were totally poor and it was just too much for them to handle Galaxy hence we lost the match,” he said.
Mahlaha said they are already working on their finishing because that is one area which the technical team thinks the players are not getting it right.
“I think we should also work more on the finishing because we are not scoring goals which is a problem. However, we also concede lots of goals which in the end affects the players confidence.”
The Red Army as Likhopo is affectionately known has conceded 16 goals while they have scored seven.
“We still have time to work on our short comings and last weekend’s loss was a wakeup call for the players that they should always work hard and stop undermining other teams. We started the week well preparing for our match against Majantja and so far, I am satisfied with what I have seen and hopefully the tables will turn this Sunday (today) because we need to start winning and that can only happen if we score goals and try to avoid conceding,” Mahlaha said.