Guard against complacency, says Khumalo ahead of Sundowns blockbuster

Vela Khumalo has warned his side to “guard against consistency” when they travel to Tsakane Stadium to face Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday, 3pm CAT.

Amakhosi have amassed 13 points out of possible 15 in the first five matches of the DStv Diski Challenge. That leaves them at the top of the log, two points ahead of second placed Sekhukhune United and Sundowns in the third place as both teams have 11 points each.

Chiefs are unbeaten in five matches – Chiefs won four and drew once, but Khumalo is taking nothing for granted ahead of the Sundowns clash who are also yet to lose a match.

“We should not forget that we have not won anything, it is still too early to be even talking about the title race,” Khumalo told the website.

“The players shouldn’t even think about celebrating at this stage. There’s long way to go and only the right mentality will take us all the way.”

Asked what has been different this season which led to this promising start at Amakhosi, Khumalo said it is a combination of many factors.

He explained: “Having the same group of players together for two seasons [experience], right mentality and wanting [to win the league] it more. We can only appreciate the good start but cannot get carried away, there’s still more than 20 games to go.”

Since the Diski Challenge was established nine years ago, Chiefs have never won the league title. And with the current squad being their “Golden Generation” there are a lot of expectations from them. They have already set the tone for the campaign and consistency would be key now onwards.

A victory over Sundowns on Sunday will mean they maintain their place at the top and probably extend the gap, depending on other matches results.