Two weeks back, a number of mistakes cost Chiefs the game as they went down 2-1 at the hands of Mamelodi Sundowns. This past Saturday Chiefs' did not produce many sparkling moments as Golden Arrows scored an injury-time goal to record their first victory in all competitions against The Amakhosi since the 23rd February 2003.

Nkosi spoke of his disappointment of losing to Sundowns and Arrows, as well as of the teams plans to bounce back from these two setbacks he spelt out his plans on Tuesday afternoon to kaizerchiefs.com.

KC.COM: Siyabonga, it has not been the best of weeks for the team in recent times, with back-to-back defeats to Sundowns and Arrows?


SN: I really do not have a problem with losing a game - I never have - because I believe that losing a game will make me stronger and I will be able to emerge from the defeat having learnt a lot from it. These last two games I really felt bad when we lost them for the mere reason that we could have prevented losing the games and should actually have won them, especially the Arrows match.

KC.COM: What do you think were the key factors to the teams loses over these two games?


SN: I feel that we did not play up to our potential and that is probably the underlying reason for us losing these games. We played brilliantly against Ajax Cape Town but just fell apart against Sundowns and were really pedestrian against Golden Arrows. It has been hard for me to come to terms with the way we lost to Golden Arrows it was just awful.

KC.COM: What would you make of your own performance in these games?


SN: To be honest, not much - I feel that I did not play up to the potential that I know I am able to. The thing is I know what my strengths are and I really did not play to them in these games. I felt that perhaps against Sundowns, the fact that they got the upper hand on us early on meant we were chasing the game. I just did not feel that I gave everything that I could to the team. I was looking forward to playing against Sundowns and was aiming to shine - it did not happen that day. Against Arrows I just felt that I was not at my best at all.

KC.COM: Where to from here for you?




SN: I did a lot of soul searching on Sunday and Monday and I had to figure out what has happened to my game. The thing is, I have to get my mind focused again and not worry too much about what is being said about the team and myself. I have spoken to a bunch of the guys and the only one who can help me lift my game is me. I have begun by working extra hard in training as well as setting myself some new targets in terms of what I would like to achieve by the end of the season.

KC.COM: Are you confident enough that you can find your target this weekend against Bidvest Wits?




SN: Like I said earlier, the past eight weeks are definitely a period of play I would like to put behind me. I am sure that the rest of the team will be looking to do so as well. We have had to forget about everything that has gone on that has been a negative influence on us and we now have to look ahead to Wits and then Arrows in the ABSA Cup a week later.

If you look at Wits, they have been going through a similar kind of spell like us - they were up on the top for a while and then they had a few mishaps, which saw them drop down. The game will be a very interesting one because you have two teams playing against each other, who are looking towards getting their seasons up and running again.

KC.COM: To finish off there has been a lot of talk about the team being under pressure, and therefore they have not been performing at their best. What do you make of all of that?


SN: I have realized one thing since I joined Chiefs and that is: no matter what you do here whether it is good or bad, the public and the media will scrutinize you. The fans have high expectations and the media are looking for you to make mistakes. We have guys in the team who are experienced enough and also have big characters, which will allow them to deal with the pressure that comes in such times. Obviously Chiefs will always be under pressure because they are the number one supported team in the country - we cannot make the pressure affect us because that will be dangerous for our own ambitions.