Sifiso Hlanti has urged Kaizer Chiefs senior players to come together to help the side restore some pride with a competitive performance when they host Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday, 21 January.
Hlanti, who is regarded as a senior player at Chiefs says he wants to see the club’s experienced players rise to the occasion in a DStv Premiership encounter against defending champions, Sundowns.
The Soweto giants are enduring a poor run of form with two consecutive losses in the league against Sekhukhune United and AmaZulu.
Chiefs left-back, Hlanti, believes that as senior players, it is their role to boost the morale in the dressing room and lead by example.
HLANTI EXPLAINS THE ROLE OF KAIZER CHIEFS SENIOR PLAYERS
“Clearly, losing two games in a row, you know, it’s not a great feeling because we know very well the task that we have among ourselves as players,” Hlanti told the media at Naturena.
“And losing those games, I think us as senior guys we need to play a huge role by bringing back the feeling and atmosphere around ourselves and among ourselves as players.
“At the end of the day, it is not the end of the world; we know very well that we need to collect points as much as we can.”
“But if things don’t go the way we want, we need to accept and move on, even though it is not easy.
“But we need to stay together and be positive,” added the Amakhosi left-back.
Hlanti missed the 4-0 hammering his team suffered in Durban against AmaZulu in their most recent game.
He was serving a one-match suspension after getting his fourth yellow card in the Sekhukhune United defeat.
The 32-year-old expressed his disappointment about the results but sounded optimistic about future games.
“I think that we all know that I was suspended in the previous game that we played. Also, the; results were not on our side because we lost the game, which was painful for everyone,” he said.
“But it is the past; it’s gone, it is something we cannot talk about it that much because this is a game of football.”
“And some of the things they happen for a reason, because I think that we all know that we play this game to win games.”
“At times, things will never go the way we want, so it is one of those things.”
RELATED STORY: Kaizer Chiefs bolster squad with highly-rated foreign duo