Kaizer Chiefs defender Bradley Cross says Amakhosi must start turning stalemates into victories, after watching his team’s inconsistent season unfold from the sidelines while recovering from injury.
With the three-week break now over after the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and MTN8 final, Chiefs return to league action against Stellenbosch, and Cross believes the time away has been put to good use.
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Injury from pre-season has forced Cross to watch from the stands for a period, giving him a different perspective on where Chiefs have been losing ground.
“We had too many draws, we need to capitalise on winning games and not conceding such silly goals, but you know that’s part of football, so yeah, we need to keep up maximum points,” Cross said.
The defender pointed specifically to avoidable goals as a recurring frustration, a concern that will resonate with a backline hoping to tighten up when action resumes.
Staying in the race
Chiefs have ambitions on several fronts this season, and Cross stressed that the squad cannot afford to slip off the pace in any of them.
He echoed a message delivered by head coach Fernando da Cruz about staying in touch with the leading pack.
“We don’t want to fall behind, we want to compete for everything that we’re in, every competition we’re in this season – as the coach said, we don’t wanna fall behind, so we’re just trying to stay there.
“Too many draws won’t help us in that instance, we just need to look forward, take it game by game, win and get maximum points.”
The approach is a simple one: forget the dropped points, focus on the next fixture, and build momentum one result at a time.
Stellenbosch: a familiar and tricky opponent
Next up is a Stellenbosch side that has rarely been an easy opponent for Chiefs. Cross acknowledged as much, but said the squad used the international break to work on the areas that needed attention.
“Playing Stellenbosch is never easy, but we took time in the international break to work on things we needed to work on – also there’s certain players that were once here that are now there, we know their attributes,” Cross said.
Given Msimango, Darrel Matsheke, Ashley du Preez and George Matlou now wear the colours of the Western Cape club, meaning there will be plenty of familiarity on both sides when the teams meet. Cross believes that insight could prove useful.
“Also, Gavin is a good coach, we will go in there, give our best, hopefully not give too much away but we’re going in for three points.”