Durban City are one step closer to the CAF Confederation Cup group stages, and head coach Eric Tinkler insists his team will take the learnings from their 3–1 first-leg victory over AS Port Louis 2000 as they look to iron out tactical issues before flying to Mauritius.
Goals from Haashim Domingo, Gastón Sirino, and a late Tashreeq Morris penalty at Moses Mabhida Stadium gave Tinkler his first win since taking charge, leaving the KwaZulu-Natal side with a valuable two-goal cushion ahead of Sunday's return leg at the Complexe Sportif de Côte d’Or.
However, a 56th-minute strike from Louis Roussety stemming from a defensive lapse and a wasteful second half left Tinkler critical of his players' focus.
"As much as I'm happy with the win, obviously not entirely happy with the result," Tinkler said.
"I definitely would have preferred a clean sheet against them. I think we were very wasteful, especially first half. Second half, yes, we got the second and then, you know, complacency set in. And that complacency, you can't allow in this competition."
Addressing the defensive errors that allowed the Mauritian outfit a route back into the tie, Tinkler emphasised the need for a total shift in application.
"From complacency comes wastefulness, because it means instead of a good pass, I make a poor pass. Instead of a good cross, I make a poor cross. Instead of attacking the ball, I wait for the ball," Tinkler explained.
"Do we want to be tourists or do we want to be locals? Because a tourist means you're here for one week, two weeks, and then you go back home. We want to be locals."
While Domingo turned sharply to open the scoring in the 16th minute and Sirino dispossessed his defender to double the lead right after half-time, Tinkler highlighted that his side's lack of natural width has forced a tactical adaptation that still requires work.
"Where we kind of lack in our squad is we don’t really have natural wingers," Tinkler said.
"I played Hashim and Sirino, and both of them are not really wingers, they're more midfielders looking to come and play in as 10s. So I'm adapting the team to a different system. Now that tactical organisation, understanding what your role is offensively and your role defensively, it changes. Good moments, bad moments today. Lack of discipline in terms of that, but it's all new for some of them."
Despite the structural growing pains, Tinkler remains confident that the squad's technical quality will carry them through if they apply themselves correctly in Saint-Pierre.
"The quality that we have in terms of players, technically, very, very good," Tinkler added.
"All of them are ballers, you know? So you've got to be able to give them a little bit of freedom, but at the same time, they need to understand tactical organisation. In this competition, you have to raise your standard. You can't play the way you play in the PSL."
With Morris's stoppage-time penalty restoring their two-goal cushion, Durban City hold the upper hand but Tinkler will be determined to sort out those tactical issues before his squad jet off to Mauritius later this week.