Africa-Press – South-Africa. Experienced Kaizer Chiefs defender Sifiso Hlanti is happy to be back on the pitch after a lengthy spell on the sidelines last season.
Hlanti nurtured multiple injuries in the past year, however, the latest scare caused him to miss the majority of the previous season after rupturing his Achilles tendon.
The veteran made a swift return to Chiefs’ starting XI in an MTN8 quarter-final penalty shootout victory against Stellenbosch last Sunday.
Speaking to reporters at the club’s Naturena headquarters, Hlanti spoke about his mental strength and remaining positive.
“Mental strength is something that I have, I’m always positive,” Hlanti said.
“You know very well that in this game of football there is always challenges, but it depends on the state of mind you have.
“How do you approach or deal with those situations, so I was positive about everything.”
Chiefs’ next opponents in the league are high-flying AmaZulu, who sit third on the table after a good start to the season.
Meanwhile, Chiefs sit ninth after a mixed start, winning two out of their opening five games.
Hlanti is returning to a defence which has been error-prone of late, with most of the goals conceded resulting from individual errors.
The latest mistake came in the MTN8 clash against Stellies where Njabulo Ncgobo was unaware of his surroundings.
“Coming to the mistakes, those are the things that you cannot run away from,” said the former Swallows defender.
“As footballers, when you make mistakes, that’s when you learn and rectify those mistakes and it’s not something you can take away from the game of football.
“But it’s all about the positive things that will make you grow because once you put yourself in a situation whereby you feel you made a mistake, you’ll never grow, and you’ll never come back.”
AmaZulu comes into the game in good form, especially Augustine Kwem, Gabadinho Mhango and Bongi Ntuli, who have formed a great relationship up front for the KwaZulu-Natal outfit.
Hlanti praised them but knows Chiefs have their own quality players as well.
“They are in a good shape and a good side. They are doing well, and we must not take it for granted and knowing very well that we also have quality players,” he said.
Saturday’s game kicks off at 17:30.
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