POLOKWANE City FC head coach Jozef Vukusic admits the Absa Premiership is tougher than he thought.
The Slovakian mentor is in his debut season as a PSL coach, having joined the Limpopo side earlier this season.
The former coach of National First Division side FC Cape Town has been in charge for four league matches, winning one, drawing one and losing two.
Rise and Shine started the season with two defeats in a row – to Limpopo rivals Black Leopards FC and defending PSL champions Mamelodi Sundowns – and their fans were starting to doubt if the 54-year-old was the right man to lead their team.
There was even talk that he would have been fired if he had lost the Limpopo derby to their foes, Baroka FC.
But their form seems to have improved as they have collected four points from their last two matches.
They beat Baroka 2-0 followed by a 1-1 draw with Golden Arrows last week.
“The PSL is tough, you have to work hard all the time,” said Vukusic.
“There is no easy game. All the teams are strong. You cannot say this team will beat that one. There’s no easy game and it’s tough to predict the outcome.”
But Vukusic said he was pleased with his side’s performance in their last two games.
“The players now are starting to understand our tactics and how we want them to play. We started slow because the team was still learning to gel and understand what we want from them.”
Vukusic said they would use the Fifa break to improve the team and work on their mistakes. “We are playing well but I believe there is still more hard work ahead,” he said.
“We do not have international players and we will use this break to our advantage as we will have the whole team at our disposal.”
City host Free State Stars in their next league match at Peter Mokaba Stadium on 15 September.
