Maritzburg United coach Eric Tinkler has admitted that he will need to act as a psychologist to get himself and his team up for their forthcoming clash against Kaizer Chiefs after disappointment in the Telkom Knockout final.

Tinkler’s charges suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss in Saturdays TKO final at the hands of Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Team of Choice took an early lead through Judas Moseamedi before Mauricio Affonso scored a couple of headers to fire the Brazilians in the lead.

Maritzburg then thought that they had equalised at the deatch but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Speaking after the match Tinkler admitted he will need to uplift the team after the disappointment of missing out on silverware.

‘I think the first challenge is trying to uplift myself. I think that is key because I’m massively disappointed you know. I want to win trophies, that’s why I love being a coach,’ said Tinkler.

“I love being a coach who is winning things. Not being on a winning side is always difficult so the side we are on it’s the third time I’ve felt that.”

‘The fact of the matter is the ball is round, life moves on and in six days’ times we’ve got another crucial game against Kaizer Chiefs and our league position is important to us, so we obviously want to try to finish off on a positive note,’ he explained.

‘Massive game against Kaizer Chiefs at home, so I have to try to be a psychologist to try to motivate myself and obviously get the players motivated as well.’