Chippa United coach Dan Malesela believes his side still has a lot to do before the team is ready for the new season.

The 51-year-old coach was speaking following a practice match against first division outfit AmaZulu at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday, reports the Chippa United website.

Malesela says that after playing pre-season friendlies against Golden Arrows, Royal Kings, and Thanda Royal Zulu, he believes the squad is yet to play to their full potential.

‘We are not anywhere near our best,’ Malesela said.

The former assistant coach revealed that his side are close to being ready for the new season, insisting that the team are still focusing on improving different aspects of their game.

‘There is a lot of work to be done. We need to learn from our mistakes. I would say now we are approaching 70% readiness,’ he added.

‘We spent two weeks in Port Elizabeth prior to coming here (Howick). We did not want to take trialists to camp and I was happy to work with the players we have signed only.

‘We focused on a lot of things in what was the second phase of our preseason, including the performance aspect, conditioning and we also got to play games and look at different combinations.’

Last season the Chilli Boys made club history by finishing sixth on the Absa Premiership table, their highest ever finish in the league and secured their place in the 42nd edition of the MTN8 tournament.

Chippa United are currently training in Johannesburg before returning to their base in Port Elizabeth to prepare for their Absa Premiership clash against Free State Stars on August 23.

Kick-off has been set for 19:30.

Image: Chippa United website