Bartlett: We didn't play like a PSL team

Pretoria - University of Pretoria head coach Shaun Bartlett said that his main concern was the lack of energy and intensity within his troops and he was disappointed to see them lose their first playoff game to Mbombela United.

Tuks hopes of Absa Premiership survival took a back seat after suffering a 1-0 defeat to United in the PSL and NFD relegation/promotion playoffs at the Tuks Stadium on Sunday.

The former Bafana Bafana striker admitted that AmaTuks did not show enough hunger and ambition to retain their top flight football status for the next season.

Bartlett believes that his side undermined the NFD outfit due to their previous results, where they lost 4-1 to Highlands Park last week Wednesday.

“To be honest with you, my main concern was a lack of energy and intensity from my players,” stressed Bartlett.

“Those were the disappointments as far as our game was concerned; we didn’t show that we want to win it from the first minute.

“I said to them at half-time that if you don’t wake up now you are not going to win this game.

“We never played like a PSL team at all, we didn’t get to into the final third and capitalise on our chances.

“The energy wasn’t there at all and it’s really disappointing because we have worked a lot from two weeks ago.

“I think there were also a lot of complacency within our team, they looked like they were undermining our opponents due to their last results.

“And that for me is a huge disappointment.”

Tuks will travel to Thembisa to meet Highlands Park in their next fixture of the mini league with the hope of bouncing back to their winning ways.