Mamelodi Sundowns are hell-bent on catching up with high-flyers Kaizer Chiefs.
While title hopefuls Sundowns have been battling to win matches, Chiefs have won all their matches so far this season.
Sundowns captain Alje Schut could only watch with envy as Tefu Mashamaite lifted the MTN8 trophy after Chiefs beat Orlando Pirates in the final.
Now Schut says the Brazilians want to win all before them in a quest to be on par with Chiefs, who lead the Absa Premiership table with 18 points after six wins in as many games.
“We want to win. If you see how Chiefs started the season, it’s a great start for them,” said Schut.
“If you want to catch them you have to win games and you have to play well. We are looking forward to the challenge and we want to win games.
“That’s the only thing. We are chasing,” said Schut, whose side trail Chiefs by eight points.
Though Sundowns had a shaky start, the men coached by Pitso Mosimane were on a comeback trail with desirable results.
Schut was impressed by the attitude of his teammates during their trying times.
He says the defending champions want to do well even in the Telkom Knockout, where they will face University of Pretoria in their opening match.
“We want to win everything. We got knocked out of MTN8. So let’s please win this game and move to the next one and try to lift this cup.
“It’s important to win something. We only won the championship last season and the years before that we didn’t win anything. Every prize you can take, you have to take. The game against Bloemfontein Celtic was a massive one for us. The game against Polokwane is going to be massive. We have been winning now so when you start winning, you want to keep the momentum. It’s hard when you have to stop and go,” said the Dutch defender.
“We had a bad start, so it is important that we start getting results. The last couple of weeks we got results and I am very happy that the guys kept their belief. Even when we were losing we were still on the right track. We worked hard and nobody got blamed. I think that’s very positive.”
Sundowns will return to action when they face strugglers Polokwane City at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday.
Schut doesn’t have an idea how the men from Limpopo will line up under new coach Kosta Papic.
He is however aware that it won’t be easy for the Brazilians to walk away with the much-needed points.
“They are a new team. They got a new coach so I don’t know what to expect from them. I hear Papic is a very attacking coach.
“If he is going to attack, it’s going to be an open game because we like attacking as well. I think it’s going to be an exciting game. Obviously they changed a lot of players there. I think last season everything was new to them. Now they got some experience.
“They are not easy. It’s going to be a massive game and we really want to win the game,” said the Sundowns skipper.
Sundowns have been drawn against AmaTuks in the Telkom Knockout, a tournament which Schut hopes to win. “I am very happy with the draw because I like to play exciting games.
“Tuks are good opponents. They are always hard. They are a hard-tackling side.
“They always give us a hard time. I hope there will be a lot of supporters because it is a derby,” said the 33-year-old central defender. - Pretoria News