Kaizer Chiefs coach Molefi Ntseki has praised the work being done by some of the new backroom staff and thanked the club for their appointments.
Ntseki explained on Wednesday after being asked about the inclusion of Brandon Petersen in the starting line-up following the error he made in the MTN8 semi-finals against Mamelodi Sundowns.
Following the mistake over the weekend, many thought Itumeleng Khune would be selected to start as Amakhosi fans weren’t happy by Petersen’s showing.
But coach Ntseki stuck with him and he was in goals as they beat Sekhukhune United 2-1 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday, as Chiefs came from behind to collect the three points for their first win in September.
Ntseki said there was no way they were going to drop Petersen because that would have aided in him crushing his confidence and credit Dr Gericke and others for stabilising him.
“The most important thing is that he (Petersen) is a leader,” said Ntseki at the post match press conference in Durban.
“We are talking of a captain (on the field since Khune was on the bench), but we need to thank the club because currently it has employed a mental coach and he is doing wonders to our players and at the same time the mental coach works very closely with the tactical element of the game.
“When it comes to Brandon, we have had situations like this before. We have had moments where we have lost the game, we have had moments where he saved us.
“In terms of his quality and being the leader of the team, we stood by him and the goalkeeping department, support from Khune, support from Bruce Bvuma, support from Bontle Molefi and the whole team, I think what is very important is that not every game we would have good game, mistakes do happen in football.
“If we always count on the mistakes, we would end up having nobody to play for the team. I think we are very proud of his performance apart from what happened last week and those are things that will happen in the game.
“We all know what happened last week, but it was important for us to stand together to give him confidence.”
Chiefs ended a three match losing streak against Sekhukhune, who did the double over them last season.
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The win for Soweto giants has moved them to fifth in the DStv Premiership table with 11 points after eight matches.
