Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane says the three clean sheets his team has kept in three games in all competitions are a definite sign of a revival.
Chiefs reversed a run of three defeats as they beat Royal AM (2-0) and drew against TS Galaxy (0-0) in the Premiership, then beat Maritzburg United 2-0 in extra time in the Nedbank Cup last-32.
Zwane would like to see his team continue to establish some form of consistency in their home league fixture against Lamontville Golden Arrows at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Sunday.
Zwane insisted at a media day at Chiefs’ headquarters in Naturena on Thursday their strong showing in their past three matches came as no surprise to him as he felt they were unlucky not to get something out of the three first games of the year.
“We believe in what we’re doing,” the coach said. “If you look at the goals we’ve conceded [in the league], we’ve let in 21 and out of those 13 or 15 were as a result of individual errors and lapses of concentration.
“We needed to deal with the individuals [who were making the mistakes]. Defenders were colliding into each other and some goals were just deflections. But when you don’t see those individuals’ errors we’re difficult to penetrate.”
Zwane said what was positive in Chiefs’ three defeats of 2023 was they looked likely to score whenever they ventured into the opposition half.
“When we moved forward we looked like scoring although sometimes frustrations came into our heads. We lacked a bit of composure in the box.
“But if you looked at the stats we’re the most difficult team to deal with when we apply pressure high.”
Zwane said a third win from four games against Arrows would be an encouraging sign for Chiefs a week before they play Orlando Pirates in the Soweto derby on February 26.
“They [Chiefs’ players] all know how important this game is to us,” said Zwane. “We missed out on climbing the ladder, and we’re a bit under pressure after our result against Galaxy. We stood a good chance and we could have won it if we took our chances.
“Here is another opportunity for us to ensure we climb the ladder by getting maximum points. They’ve been conceding goals just like we do, and their situation is worse than us. What I’m happy about is that in the past three games we didn’t concede.”
Arrows will come to Sunday’s game as huge underdogs having lost four times and won once in their past five matches to be sitting four points clear of bottom-placed side Marumo Gallants.
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