‘You can see the team hasn’t settled down yet but we know that we have enough to go out and get a result,’ said Williams.
Mamelodi Sundowns captain Ronwen Williams is backing his side to bounce back with a strong performance against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on Wednesday night. The Betway Premiership clash pits two heavyweights against each other, with three crucial points on the line.
Sundowns and Chiefs a mixed bag
The last time the two teams met, Amakhosi edged Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup semifinal at Loftus Versfeld. However, the Brazilians had the upper hand in the league last season, completing a double over Chiefs and also handed them a 4-0 thrashing in the Carling Knockout at FNB Stadium.
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“We haven’t lost a game in open play since the season started. Yes, there’s a lot of uneasiness and you can see the team hasn’t settled down yet but we know that we have enough to go out and get a result,” Williams said.
“We’ve done it over the last few seasons, where we’ve gone to FNB and got results. We know it’s going to be a different ball game now because they’ve got the confidence but we need to go there and give an extra 10% because we’ve started games extremely well. It’s towards the end of games where we’ve let ourselves down.”
Sundowns go into the fixture still reeling from their MTN8 semifinal exit to Orlando Pirates, who advanced on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate draw. Williams admitted the mood in camp has been low since that defeat to the Buccaneers at Lucas Moripe Stadium last Saturday.
“Not a good space to be in now and you can see the guys are still a bit down and the mood is not one of the best,” Williams added
‘A big assignment’
“We obviously had big objectives of starting the campaign on a positive note which was to go all the way in the MTN8 but it wasn’t to be. We just have to dust ourselves off and go again. There are a lot of tough lessons to take out of the defeat and we’re all hurting. We’re sad and to our supporters, we’re all in this together. We’re all feeling the effects of getting knocked out.
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“It’s a big assignment coming up against Kaizer Chiefs and one that we’re looking forward to. For us, we have a rule at the club that after a match, we have 24 hours to either be sad or to celebrate and once that has passed, it’s time to focus and look to the next match.”