Chippa United coach Vusimuzi Vilakazi is to use the two-week international break to work on the club’s defensive structures after they lost to Stellenbosch on Saturday to remain in relegation trouble.
The 2-1 loss at the Athlone Stadium kept Chippa two places above the relegation places in 13th position with 20 points and eight games left to play.
“I think we'll have to, unfortunately, go back into the drawing board in terms of aligning our defensive structure,” said Vilakazi.
“In our previous three games, we've conceded seven goals, which is something that we weren’t before. We had seven clean sheets (in a row) previously.
“Simply, it means our defensive structure was spot on, but unfortunately, football is a short blanket where you need to balance the offensive part and the defensive structure.
“So now once you focus on your offence, then you start having problems with your defensive structure. I think we are at that stage right now where we need to align our defensive structure because once you find yourself not conceding goals, then you stand a chance of getting something,” he added.
Vilakazi rejected the assertion that the departure of Nigerian international goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali had something to do with the defensive backslide.
“I only used Stanley for two games. After that, it was Dumisani Msibi. He’s the one who had the clean sheets,” he explained.
Vilakazi said he was still confident of avoiding the drop.
“We need to go back to that and remind ourselves what we are capable of and make sure that the team is nowhere near relegation or playoffs. So we'll have to dig deep. Yes, we've lost this game, but it's water under the bridge. We need to focus on the next one and make use of this two-week break.”
Chippa’s next match is on Tuesday 7 April at home in Gqeberha to Siwelele.