Johannesburg – Kaizer Chiefs’ attacker Keagan Dolly says the championship race is far from over and that’s why they’ll focus on themselves, not their competitors.
Chiefs ended the past year on a high as they closed the first half of the term with a win over Orlando Pirates, before beating Golden Arrows on New Year’s Eve.
Despite Chiefs’ resurgence, opposition coaches such as Ernst Middendorp have already “congratulated leaders Mamelodi Sundowns for winning the title”.
The champions have been leading the pack since the start of the season, showing their intentions of claiming an unprecedented sixth title in a row.
But Dolly, who won the title with the Brazilians in 2016, says they are not worried about his former club as they are focusing on themselves instead.
“We are only reaching the halfway mark of the season now, there’s still a lot to play for. Before, Sundowns won the league in the last 20 minutes,” he said.
“Anything can happen. We are not going to focus on anything that they are doing. We have our own race to run. And our next focus is on Sekhukhune United.”
Chiefs will face Sekhukhune on Saturday night with plenty at stake. While a win could push them up on the log, there’s still the matter of their 53rd birthday.
Formed on January 7, 1970, Chiefs will turn a year older on Saturday, pressuring Arthur Zwane and his men to light up the birthday celebrations with a victory.
“This is one game that will obviously mean a lot to me, the players, chairman, supporters and everyone who’s part and parcel of the club,” Zwane said.
“It's key for us to give the chairman (Kaizer Motaung) and our forefathers the present. And that present will be nothing other than the three points.”
Sekhukhune will be tough customers for Chiefs though. They are currently on a high after starting the year with a bang, beating Marumo Gallants at home.
That decent form has been propelled by the arrival of coach Brandon Truter, who was formerly on the books of AmaZulu before he was sacked recently.
“We are looking at their structure. The way they build up, attack and where their attack starts from. We know they have strong defenders,” Dolly said.
"But that’s also things that we can use against them. We are nippy up front, and we have space. But we are trying to focus on our strengths, not them.
“We are building something great here at Chiefs. You can see from the past two games that we are making less mistakes and we are conceding less too.”
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Chiefs’ nippiness and space up front has ensured that they produced the league’s top goal scorer in Burundian Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana thus far.
The 25-year-old has scored seven league goals so far, while his well taken goal against Arrows was created by a delightful defence splitting pass from Dolly.
Mamelodi Sundowns are racing clear, but the title is not a certainty yet
“We talk to Caleb a lot. And I think, me a little bit more, because I speak a little bit of French. So he understands me better,” Dolly said of his teammate.
“But I think he’s yet to do more because he wants to score goals. And I don’t think Caleb intends to go into a game and score one goal and just relax.”
IOL Sport