Mayo cut a calm figure when he arrived for training on Tuesday at the Kaizer Chiefs village and has opted not to let the hype surrounding Saturday’s fixture affect him.

The Chiefs defender who scored on his PSL debut for The Amakhosi against Sundowns on the opening day of the 2003 – 2004 season (in a match which Chiefs won two goals to nil), is not letting the fact that The Amakhosi currently head the PSL Standings affect his approach to the game as he aims to ensure that Chiefs remain at the top past this coming weekend.

“It is important for us to keep our feet on the ground and not float about thinking that it is enough for us to be at the top right at this moment. What is important for us is to understand that it has taken a lot of hard work for us to have climbed up to the position that we are in at the moment. We do not want to drown all that work with a below-par performance on Saturday. Focusing on Sundowns is the only thing that is on our radar at the moment”.

A few months back Chiefs were languishing in twelfth spot on the table, a string of good results in November and December last year saw Chiefs play themselves into title contention.

Mayo who missed the start of the current season due to the death of his mother, concurs that it has been a really challenging season and that the team are not looking back, but at what obstacles lay ahead.

“We cannot stay away from the fact that this has been a really challenging season for the entire team, not so long ago people had written us off and we were not considered for the league title. The reason that we currently sit in first place is testament to the fact that we have a really strong bond between the guys, and we have all stood together and supported each other as we ascended the league table”.

Like his coach, Mayo firmly believes that the title is Chiefs to lose from here on, “At the moment we lead the table and we want to stay there, so we will not take it for granted and think it is our right to be out in front. We will labour on till the last day of the season to ensure that we win the league. Wwith all that has gone on through this season I do believe that on the last day of league activity in May, there will be a happy ending for us. All happy endings do not necessarily have a good beginning, but it is in the middle where the plot thickens and I believe that everything will turn in our favour on Saturday which will lead to a fairy tale ending”, concluded Mayo.

Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp will definitely be happy to see that confidence levels in his team are particularly high, with Chiefs having played three of the top five teams in their last five games.

Patrick Mayo and company will have become accustomed to the pressure that comes with facing a high profile opponent. Chiefs will be hoping to see off the challenge of Sundowns in the same manner that they did another of their title rivals Ajax Cape Town this past weekend.