Why Chiefs need to avoid desperation in bid to end trophy drought

Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Brandon Petersen believes the club need to steer clear of desperation, as they look to break their trophy drought this season.

ALSO READ: Chiefs and Pirates avoid each other at Carling Knockout draw

Amakhosi are trying to avoid going ten seasons without a single piece of Premier Soccer League silverware. Their next chance at a trophy comes in the Carling Black Label Knockout – Nasreddine Nabi’s side will play SuperSport United in the last 16.

Chiefs’ Petersen – ‘Never good to be desperate’

“It is never good to be desperate,” said Petersen this week at the draw for the last 16 in Sandton.

“When you are desperate you never really get what you want.

“We are looking to see what we can do to end this drought. And what better way to start than the Black Label (Knockout) Cup.

“We will be going out treating every game as a final, and wanting to go all the way and win it. Hopefully that can set the tone for the rest of the season.”

Chiefs have got off to an impressive start to the campaign under Nabi.

Amakhosi didn’t play in the MTN8, having finished a dismal 10^th in last season’s Betway Premiership.

But they won their first two Premiership matches of the new campaign, and then played well even though they lost to Mamelodi Sundowns at FNB Stadium in their last league game.

Backed up by some good new signings, Nabi already seems to have instilled more passion and tactical nous in this Chiefs side than has been seen from Amakhosi for some time.

Chiefs’ ‘new energy’

“You can see by the way we have been playing, there is a new energy and vibe on the field. That has been brought by the new technical team. We struggled in the past and you could see it on the field. That is something that is slowly starting to change, even though they (the new Chiefs coaches) have only been there for a short time, it is starting to rub off.

“For me it is slowly getting there, and hopefully we can keep improving game by game.”

The 30 year-old Petersen is back in full Chiefs training after having pins removed from a finger. For now, he is likely to remain on the sidelines, however, with new Rwandan ‘keeper Fiacre Ntwari seemingly Nabi’s number one choice.

ALSO READ: Broos wants to see the ‘real’ Bafana against Congo-Brazzaville

“Competition is good, I love competition and I like fighting for my place,” added Petersen.

“If there is no competition you tend to go into relaxed mode. I am looking forward to fighting for the number one spot.”