Truter unfazed by Chippa’s slow league start

Chippa United coach Brandon Truter insists he is not concerned about the slow start his side made, as he is optimistic they will turn the corner soon.

In the opening matches in the league, Chippa are winless with two draws and one defeat. On Sunday, they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, and are 13th on the table.

Truter, who joined the club towards the end of last season, highlighted lack of concentration as their main problem, something he needs to work on going forward.

“Lapse of concentration, and these are the moments we can improve on. So, this is not a concern for me, it was the 30 minutes where we conceded the goals which we should rectify,” Truter told the media during the post-match press conference.

“It’s mental, it’s nothing which we can’t fix. It’s a tough one to take, but we will move on to game number three of the season. It’s a Chippa team that will get better, fix one or two things.”

Truter feels conditioning could have also been a factor for their slow start so far, but assured that they will get better with time.

“Conditioning might be a factor coming into this stage of the season, we’ve not adapted,” he said.

“We also had players who joined us late and didn’t have a preseason, we are leaving no stone unturned to fix [this]. We have time to fix it.

“It’s a good team we’ve assembled, and I’m pretty confident that we will have a say in the Nedbank Cup and Carling Cup as well as also in finishing in the top eight.”

With both the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and Buffalo City Stadium being unavailable due to scheduled pitch maintenance and re-turfing in the Eastern Cape, the Chilli Boys have been forced to play their home fixtures away. Having played their first two matches of the season in Dobsonville and Durban, Truter said that is also affecting them, as they can’t settle.

Chippa’s next match is away to struggling Siwelele on August 25, where they will be looking for their first win.