Chiefs midfielder Thabo Cele has faced an injury-blighted season, but is back fit and looking to make up for lost time.
He spoke to the team’s media department about the challenge that awaits them on Wednesday and how to nullify Sundowns’ many threats.
Victory over Mamelodi Sundowns will almost certainly secure third place and CAF Confederation Cup football next season …
Thabo Cele: It has not been easy for us throughout the season, but we have been pushing ourselves as a team and trying to get results that put us in a good situation.
The next game is a good opportunity for us because we are playing against the team that is leading the log. It is a good opportunity for us to take three points and lift our morale for the next games. We have three games left (afterwards), and those are going to be massive for us if we want to qualify for African football again.
On a personal level, you have had injury setbacks this season. How difficult has that been?
As an individual, you want to reach a certain level and a certain standard, but when things are not working out for you, you need to remain calm and keep working. That is what I have been doing.
Coming back and trying to help the team in these last few games is something I have been working towards since I was out for so many games. It is a mental thing to always be ready for a comeback. That is football. Sometimes you are down, sometimes you are up, and then you have to try to bring yourself back. That is what I have been trying to do, and I am still at it.
The team had been on a decent run before the last defeat to Siwelele. What do you think went wrong in that match?
In the last game, I think we were playing too fast. We could not really keep the ball in the way we wanted. If you are not able to keep the ball against teams that play with a lot of intensity and have fast players, it becomes an up-and-down game, and that is what happened.
Conceding early does not help. We made a lot of unnecessary mistakes, lost the ball cheaply and then got punished.
After that, you have to come back, and it is not easy because you are chasing the game and you are not playing calmly. You want to equalise, but we could not really string our passes together to create clear-cut chances. I think that was the problem in the previous game.
You face Mamelodi Sundowns next. What kind of challenge do they pose?
Sundowns are a good team to play against because they are very tactical and technical. The way they play, they have a lot of patience, so it becomes a mind game. I love those games.
They are going to want to have a lot of the ball because that is how they create their chances and how they avoid transitions. For us, playing away, we will look for opportunities when we break, but when we get into their half, we also want to keep the ball.
That is what they use to win games, so if you can starve them of that, it becomes an advantage for you. It is a very interesting game for us.
Throughout the season, we have not been able to win those important games, especially in Africa (Confederation Cup), the Nedbank Cup and the first Soweto Derby against Pirates. Those are the games you want to win, so going into this one is a big opportunity for us.
Sundowns have many dangerous players. How important is it to manage their threats?
Sundowns have a lot of top-quality players, players who play on the international stage for Bafana Bafana and for their countries. They have a good squad and a good team, but we also have a good team and good players.
We have just been unfortunate in important moments. This is a very important moment, and we do not want to miss this one. I think it is a game of intelligence.
Sundowns will also be motivated as they chase another league title. Does that make the game even bigger?
If you look at recent history, Sundowns have been dominating the league in terms of winning trophies. They are going to want to win it again because now they have someone competing with them, which is our rivals Orlando Pirates.
For us, considering our recent history, we are coming closer and closer, step by step. Things are interesting for South African football at this moment.
Of course, Sundowns will want to catch this title again, but maybe we can spoil the party for them. We are also on our own journey, and these are the games you want to win.