'Chippa no longer pushovers'
Fresh off a hard-earned 1-1 draw with Moroka Swallows in their Premiership match in Dobsonville on Friday, new Chippa United coach Farouk Abrahams says his side can compete at the highest level.
“Hats off to my boys - they played with courage and character and I'm just happy that we're no longer a pushover for other teams,” said Abrahams after the game.
After two games in charge, Abrahams had managed two impressive draws against much-fancied opposition - the first being a 2-2 draw against SuperSport United during the week.
Abrahams, a former goalkeeper, believed his team could have even beaten Swallows on their home turf.
“I thought we got the point we deserved although we should have got all three points because I thought we created the better chances," he said.
“They had a lot of possession but in all the wrong areas and they took a lot of long shots at goal.”
With so little time with his squad, Abrahams said he simply has not had the chance to work on all areas of the game, but instead had chosen to focus on their mental approach.
It seemed to be paying dividends with his team scoring late equalisers in both games since he had taken charge.
“We play without the fear of losing, even if we go a goal down. The philosophy is that it doesn't mean you're losing the game. Nobody has scored more than two goals against Chippa United this season and we aim to keep it like that.
“We're going to go wrong somewhere down the line but the character is always there to come back and I'm very proud of the boys."
Chippa had moved to seven points from their 10 league outings, and Abrahams was satisfied with their position.
“It's only my second game [in charge] and there are things I can work on but the positive thing is that it's two games unbeaten and for me that's a great start," he said.
“We'll get there. There's a lot of character, maybe a little finesse missing here and there but we can go forward with a positive result like this.”
