Kaizer Chiefs captain Tinashe Nengomasha is confident that Amakhosi will bounce back when they face Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday.
Chiefs are still nursing their wounds after being beaten 2-0 by SuperSport United on Wednesday and the Amakhosi are now desperate to redeem their pride and return to the race for the league title.
Speaking to KickOff.com, Nengomasha said playing the Brazilians will be a big test at Loftus Stadium this weekend.
“This will be a good stage for us to bounce back to our winning ways especially after losing to SuperSport,” he says.
“It is not going to be easy though as Sundowns are also a big team and the character of both teams will be tested. We will go there to compete and hopefully get maximum points.”
Amakhosi have gone three games without a win and without scoring a goal, but Nengomasha blames the off-the-field problems that engulfed at Naturena in the past few months.
“We started the season well but other factors crept in that contributed to us losing focus. The argument between the supporters and management didn’t do things any good as we lost concentration of what we wanted to achieve as a team at the end of the season,” he adds, without expanding on his comments.
“I believe we have players with the experience to bounce back and I am confident that we will soon take Chiefs back to the level where they belong,” he adds.
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Meanwhile, Orlando Pirates coach Julio Leal says his side’s Premier Soccer League match against log leaders SuperSport United today at Orlando Stadium is the most important match of their lives.
The Buccanneers head into the clash 10 points adrift of the table-topping SuperSport, who are fresh off a 2-0 drubbing of the much fancied Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday.
“I always try to tell our players, the most important game of our lives is the next one,” said Leal at a press conference on Thursday.
“It doesn’t matter that we are playing in the final of the (Telkom) cup knockout the following week, we have to concentrate and focus on SuperSport. “It’s difficult because one game is 90 minutes, and the next there is the possibility of 120 minutes, so it is a different focus,” he explained.
Leal admitted that his treble-winning side from last season had been below par recently.
“We have done very well, it was just about the third or fourth month [of the campaign] that we had a lot of injuries, yellow cards and red cards and our performance was on a lower level than usual.
“We will start to recover and play better again, and in a very short time the team will be focused and see the SuperSport game as the most important of our lives.”
Unbeaten after 12 games, SuperSport coach Gavin Hunt is confident in his charges after their good start to the season.
“Look it’s a tough game for us, it’s away from home,” said Hunt.
“At this point in the season, we really don’t need to win these games, we can play how we really want to play and we’re quite a positive thinking team.”
Hunt said his men were focused on an unpredictable Pirates team hungry for results.
