Platinum Stars coach Cavin Johnson insists his side have to focus on their upcoming fixtures in both the Nedbank Cup and Caf Confederations Cup.

Dikwena fell to a 2-0 defeat against Bidvest Wits through a goal by Phakamani Mahlambi, and an 88th-minute penalty by Daine Klate.

The 58-year-old coach insists his side have to be at their best with their busy fixture list, playing Baroka in the Nedbank Cup and AS Tanda in the Caf Confederation Cup, all within days of each other.

‘We have to regroup, I think we have a bigger game on Tuesday. We try to put this game as far behind our heads. The games are coming thick and fast now,’ Johnson told the Platinum Stars website.

‘We play every 48 hours, so we need to pick up again on Tuesday and fly to Ivory Coast to play AS Tanda in Confed Cup and come back to play Cape Town City. It’s back to back games. This is what we like as coaches. It’s good for players that they play every week.’

He added: ‘Baroka, it’s a very big game for me. Nedbank Cup, we played the final before. We are playing against a team that is known to be . . . I think they have a Nedbank Cup Juju man.

‘We have got our work cut out for us, but we have to do our best. We will fight as much as we can in order to go through to the next round.’

Johnson says he wasn’t happy with the result against Wits, but he believes his side played well against a team at the top of the Absa Premiership standings.

‘We are not over unhappy because we lost. When you look at it from an analytical point of view, Wits are the top team on the log. We played a good a game against a top team,’ Johnson concluded.

Platinum Stars will now take on Baroka in the next round of the Nedbank Cup on Tuesday.

The match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium kicks off at 19:30.

Image: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix