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Durban - Following their surprise 1-0 league win over SuperSport United in Atteridgeville on Tuesday, AmaZulu coach Craig Rosslee says the Durban outfit have put themselves in a comfortable position by consistently collecting points this season.
Usuthu climbed to fourth on the Premiership table, courtesy of Ayanda Dlamini’s 88th minute strike, which was enough to ward off a SuperSport side ravaged by injuries.
In an encounter that looked destined to go down as a bore draw, Dlamini's late heroics snatched three points, as the visitors picked up a loose pass from Bevan Fransman and punished their hosts seconds from the end.
“We had a good start to the season, then we lost some silly points… the fact is we’ve got the points,” Rosslee said after the game at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
“It was a bit unfortunate that we didn’t collect maximum points in about four of our games, otherwise we could have been sitting in a different position. Nevertheless, we’ve got the points and that’s the most important thing.”
Rosslee was unconcerned at the amount of games AmaZulu had played already this season, with their tally up to 17, the most of any Premiership side thus far.
SuperSport are a point behind Rosslee’s troops but have two games in hand, while in third place Wits have four games still to play and lead AmaZulu by a point.
“The other teams below us still have to get the points. Even a team like Kaizer Chiefs, they’re going to be involved in a heavy programme,” Rosslee said of the fixture backlog.
“You have a side like Orlando Pirates who want to catch up. They’re going to be having a go at all the other teams.
“Everything will balance out... everything will pan out. We’ve just got to make sure we keep picking up the points and we have to worry about ourselves.”
Rosslee was particularly impressed by the character shown by his team, while he complimented them on a better performance than in their league encounter last weekend, which ended in a 1-1 stalemate with Orlando Pirates.
“It was a better performance from the last game against Orlando Pirates,” Rosslee said. “We wanted to come and play, we wanted the win, we didn’t come for a result.
“I thought they (AmaZulu) showed great commitment. The performance, in terms of the work ethic, is what I’m looking for. They showed that today and when we got the ball, we played football. We continue to do this and it looks good for us.”
Having finished 12th last season and with not much going their way in terms of results, Rosslee was adamant that AmaZulu had finally staked their claim as genuine title contenders and were aiming for a top-half finish.
“We started with a difficult task. We were sitting at the bottom last year. We had to make changes in the squad and strengthen,” Rosslee said.
“At the end of the day, the team is only as good as the personnel that you have there. The club has aspirations. We’re not a big club as the clubs this far north and we want to keep improving.
“I’ve surrounded myself with people I feel add value to the structures. Everywhere I try and surround myself with people who will add weight and take some of the pressure off my shoulders so that things can run a bit smoother.”
Usuthu face Ajax Cape Town next week, while United will have a quick turnaround, welcoming the University of Pretoria to Atteridgeville on Friday in a capital city derby that could have severe repercussions for Matsatsantsa should they fail to beat the University side.
