Mamelodi Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana has spoken out about their impending league championship encounter against Kaizer Chiefs.
He did not mince his words about how hungry Masandawana are to collect nothing less than maximum points today.
The two sides meet in a match touted as one of the PSL title deciders as the league is set to go to the wire at Orlando Stadium on Thursday night, kick-off is at 6pm.
Both sides are left with three matches before the curtain falls on the coronavirus delayed 2029/20 PSL season, with Amakhosi topping the league log chart with 53 points and Downs trailing in second place with 50 points.
However, Chiefs enjoy a better goal difference, having scored seven goals more than their rivals. If Sundowns win, the two sides will be level on 53 points apiece but a Khosi victory puts them back comfortably on the driving seat of a six points gap.
Skipper Kekana highlighted the glaring lack of successful finishing and the minimal goals they have managed to get, as well as their leaky defence as one of the factors that have made the restarted of their campaign difficult.
“We are giving our best for football lovers but we’ve not been defending well and scoring goals as we wanted to. It is a situation we find ourselves of not been able to score many goals,” said Sundowns midfielder Kekana, one of the longest serving players at the Brazilians
“We know that we have to do the business against Chiefs and make sure that we win the match. We have to make sure that we take care of all the elements that are involved in the game.
“It is doable, we can go and win it [the league title]. As players, we must continue to serve the team and win all the remaining matches.
“At the moment we understand the nature of this game, I believe we are an ambitious team, we have to win trophies. We are a team that has been in this space for many seasons now. We have just won the last match [against Golden Arrows].”
Speaking about the atmosphere in the bio-bubble, Kekana, whose captaincy has seen Downs dominating the league championship in the last three seasons by winning back-to-back league titles, said despite the camp being “obviously a strange, strange situation”, they have managed to adapt.
“Well, we’ve adapted well [to the bubble], we’ve been here for more than three weeks now and adjusted. The situation is not friendly to anybody. We’ve sacrificed a lot, meaning we have to give it all on the field of play as we are doing it for the supporters.
“I am happy to see that the boys have adapted well to the situation and they are pulling their socks at training and during matches.”
