United Kaizer Chiefs dressing room backs under-fire Mduduzi Shabalala

Shabalala has found himself under extreme pressure after Chiefs exited the Nedbank Cup last week, as he was blamed for missed chances. 

On Sunday, despite ending on the winning side in the 2-1 victory over Egyptian side Al Masry in the CAF Confederation Cup, he was spared the blame. 

The 22-year-old is one of the key Chiefs attackers, and Cross says he’s strong enough to bounce back from this.

"Yeah, no, we all support, we all are with him and like I said, that happens to everyone. Everyone can miss opportunities, at the end of the day. We are all comforting him and he knows himself. He's strong mentally and we're all behind him and got his back," Cross said.

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Cross knows too well about the hard to please Chiefs fans, after he also had to overcome some criticism during his early days at the club. 

But he’s put all of that behind him now and is one of the reliable defenders at Amakhosi.

"Yeah, no, since I came to Chiefs from the beginning it wasn't an easy time for me. I mean I had to deal with the fans, critics and all that and I'm proud of myself for doing that and I'm just focusing on improving in each and every game,"he added.

Cross has been sidelined by an injury but is slowly coming back, currently in rehabilitation and hoping to be back on the pitch soon.

"You know, it is a little bit disappointing but it's part of football, I mean you can't win everything, it's part of life, it's just how things happen. Well, I was injured, I'm still doing rehab at the moment, I would say a couple more weeks and I should be back. I've just been focusing on my rehab and supporting the guys as much as I can."