Bartlett: Every game a cup final

Cape Town Spurs head coach Shaun Bartlett has indicated that they will approach the remaining three games of the GladAfrica Championship season as cup finals in order to finish as strongly as possible.

The Urban Warriors head into this weekend’s encounter against Black Leopards unbeaten in their last four matches, having picked up one win and three draws during the month of April.

The threat of relegation loomed over Lidoda Duvha two months ago, but their fortunes have taken a turn for the better after embarking on a five-match winning streak to pull five points clear of the bottom two in 10th place.

Spurs are just a one point behind Leopards and Bartlett has set his sights on halting the Limpopo club’s winning run and claiming the league double over Joel Masutha’s side, having beaten them 2-0 in the reverse fixture at Athlone Stadium earlier in the campaign.

“For us as a club has always been taking pride in every game that we play. We represent ourselves, our families and the club to the best of our abilities and the players understand the magnitude of every game that we play,” the coach said.

“When the second round started we said every game is a cup final and that’s how we’re going to approach this coming weekend’s game against Black Leopards.

“We will go to Thohoyandou and make sure that the players understand that we’re not travelling for seven to 10 hours for nothing.

“We’re going there for points and as a technical team we’ll make sure we select the right squad, the right players and apply the correct tactics in order to get something out of the game and come back to Cape Town not disappointed.”