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Tinkler eager to improve his attack

Cape Town - Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler was pleased to beat Bloemfontein Celtic in the Telkom Knockout on Wednesday, but lamented his side's shortcomings in the final third.

City, who were competing in the competition for the first time, beat Celtic 2-0 at Cape Town Stadium, but the goals arrived late in extra-time after they struggled to break down the visitors in regulation time.

Tinkler was satisfied with his team's defensive performance on the night and with their progress into the quarter-finals, but wanted to see more in attack.

"It's that final third that's been our problem of late," Tinkler told SuperSport in his post-match interview.

"And in the first 90 minutes, it was a bit of the same really - it was only really in that second period of extra time that the spaces started to open and we caught them on the counter and got the goals. But that was also because of tired legs.

"Before that, we really struggled to break them down. I thought defensively, we were good tonight, which was extremely important.

"That's been our weakness over the last couple of games - defensively, we've been conceding very cheap goals. They're very dangerous on the break and have a lot of speed and power going forward, and I thought we dealt with it very well.

"Over the 90 minutes, not entirely impressed. I don't think we created enough, but we need to work on that. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done, but happy to get through to the next round."

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