SuperSport United head coach Kaitano Tembo has encouraged defender Luke Fleurs to maintain his aggression despite receiving a red card against AmaZulu on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old was given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card for a bookable offense in the dying moments of the heated stalemate at the King Johnson Park.
The red card means that Fleurs will serve a two-match suspension, missing matches against Swallows FC and Maritzburg United respectively, however, his coach has applauded the young defender's aggression, which in his game, has been lacking.
"[It was] disappointing but I wouldn't want him to lose that aggression," Tembo told the club's media department.
"That is one area that has been lacking in his game, but I thought he won the header, and you know when the game is heated, if you are booked, you have a yellow card and you commit such a foul, you are bound to be booked [again] because of the pressure the referee gets in because he had given a red card on the other side. If it was 11 vs 11, I don't think the referee was going to book him because he had won the header first, so as much as it is disappointing, I am happy with his performance."
Fleurs' suspension could see a start for SuperSport's latest acquisition Buhle Mkhwanazi who has featured as a sub on two occasions for the Tshwane outfit this campaign.
"It is unlucky that we are gonna lose Luke because of the booking but I was quite happy with his performance, he is doing well along with TT (Thatayaone Dithlokwe), they have been very solid but lucky enough we have also got Buhle (Mkhwanazi). That is the reason we brought him here, we knew going into the season that we would come up with difficulties such as bookings and injuries, so we are a bit covered in that area," he added.
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