‘It’s time we turn corner’: Ntseki before Chiefs’ Carling game against Usuthu

Kaizer Chiefs coach Molefi Ntseki sees the start of the new Carling Knockout Cup as an opportunity for the Glamour Boys to reset their unprecedented trophy drought.

He was speaking at a Carling Knockout press conference in Johannesburg on Thursday before Amakhosi's last 16 clash against AmaZulu at FNB Stadium on Saturday (6pm).

Ntseki, handed the head coaching job at Chiefs at the beginning of the season and who has overseen an erratic start to the campaign, said he believes the new competition can be the right environment for Chiefs to end their eight-season barren period.

“Now it's a time for us to turn the corner,” he said.

“We understand it comes with hard work and proper preparation going into this match. At the same time we give respect to our opponent, though there's only one team that can win on Saturday.”

Chiefs will take confidence from having beaten AmaZulu 3-0 in the league at FNB this season. Ntseki said that result will play no part in how they will prepare for the cup match as Usuthu have since improved.

“We're aware of what is happening [the eight-year drought] and it's a challenge for all of us at the club to say we're looking forward to doing well as a team and as individual players.

“But it's a work in progress. As much as we might not be as patient with the progress, we have to be positive about the outcome.”

Ntseki admitted that despite adding Ranga Chivaviro and Colombian Efmamjjasond Gonzalez to their strike force, Chiefs are still struggling to score goals. He said Amakhosi will look to use the Carling to improve goal scoring ratio.

“Goalscoring is a problem, but at the same time it is preparation and training. It's not only the technical side, but also the mental side. We always talk of composure and the question will be what it is and when do you apply it?

“It's also an important part when it comes to those individuals players whenever they're faced with a situation where they have to score goals and then the composure doesn't come and technical execution is not what is expected.

“When you look at it now, when we miss one goal we get more worried about missing too many and we end up missing too many. So, it's more of a mental side for players to understand that chances are coming from different angles of the game.

“These are the moments we're working [on] and the moments we feel if our players [need to] get the understanding of where the goalkeeper is when the ball comes from this angle and what is likely to happen when the ball is coming from this angle.

“But the most important thing also is for us to share the responsibility [of scoring] because at times we tend to take everything upon ourselves and end up giving away an opportunity to score.”