Amakhosi defender Thomas Sweswe believes that losing to first division opposition during the Nedbank Cup in the past two seasons has prepared Chiefs for what can be the proverbial Banana peel, when they face National first division outfit Nathi Lions in their opening game of the Nedbank Cup this weekend.

“Last season we were eliminated by a team from the first division FC Cape Town who came out fighting from the first whistle” said Sweswe, who then warned that based on that experience Chiefs will not be underestimating Nathi Lions when they face them over the weekend.

“We taking this game very seriously, teams from the lower division have nothing to lose and everything to gain when they play against us, it is an opportunity for them to show that they can take on the top flight teams.”

As the Zimbabwean centre back further explained going the distance in the Cup will do have a positive effect on Chiefs Absa Premiership ambitions.

“We want to win this game against Nathi Lions, the thing is we still have hopes of doing the treble this season, we need this win as it will keep our confidence up as we play out our remaining league fixtures.

Losing can demoralise a team so we intend to keep ourselves upbeat and the way to do that is win on Saturday.”

Sweswe has picked up two Telkom Knockout Cup Winners medals since joining Chiefs at the start of last season and his hope is to add a Nedbank Cup title to those, “I have been told that since the start of the PSL in 1996 – 1997 the team has done well in the other Cup competitions.

When it comes to the Nedbank Cup I believe we have won it just twice, so I would like to help the team add a third title in this competition, given that the teams last triumph in this competition was in 2005 – 2006 I think it is important for us to do all we can to win the cup this season.”