Cedric Kaze: Nedbank Cup triumph won't help ease Kaizer Chiefs pressure

Chiefs finally got the monkey off their backs, ending a 10-year wait for a trophy, when they lifted the Nedbank Cup by beating arch rivals Orlando Pirates in May.

Asked whether that level of pressure to appease their demanding supporters has now lessened, Kaze quickly defended they will not dry today's washing with yesterday's sun. 

"I would say that to win the Nedbank Cup was a big achievement for the club and for the fans but unfortunately that's not gonna help on Sunday. I'd love for that to help but I have to be realistic that's not going to help and we need to start all over,” Kaze said. 

“To play a Stellenbosch team, a team that is hungry, that wants to redeem themselves from the league games and I would say that there is no specialist in cups and league games but it's the momentum that you need yourself to create and we are doing everything to create that momentum to create the positive momentum going forward."

READ: Lehlohonolo Seema treading carefully against in-form Orlando Pirates

Amakhosi have been dogged by misfortune from the penalty spot in recent times, with Glody Lilepo and Gaston Sirino failing to find the net in their CAF Confederation Cup away and home legs against Angolan side Kabuscorp.

Kaze revealed that penalties are a staple at the Chiefs Village, where they practice from 12 yards out even when not preparing specifically for matchdays.

"I would say that the last two games we were unfortunate to not score our penalties, especially with the two best penalty takers that we have in our team, Lilepo [Makabi] and Sirino [Gaston],” the coach added. 

“It's something that people might think that it's a lack of preparation, no, we do penalties everyday. We don't even wait for a game that requires penalties, we do penalties everyday just to prepare ourselves on where the moment is gonna come but unfortunately for the last two games we have missed those penalties.

“It’s something that we need to keep working on to raise the confidence within the team. If those situations happen again, we hope that we will deal better in the future."