Fit Petersen Wants To Reclaim Number 1 Spot At Chiefs
Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Brandon Petersen is eager to reclaim his starting spot after being displaced by new signing Fiacre Ntwari.
Ntwari, signed from TS Galaxy in the offseason, was brought in to address Chiefs’ goalkeeping concerns. Petersen’s blunders, such as his costly mistakes in the MTN8 quarter-final against Mamelodi Sundowns, led to a loss of confidence and a brief falling out with caretaker coach Cavin Johnson. This resulted in Bruce Bvuma being given the nod for most of the season.
Petersen’s struggles culminated in a red card against Galaxy on 7 May 7, forcing him to miss the final three matches of the season. This season, Ntwari has started in three matches, with Chiefs winning two and losing one.
Ntwari has impressed in his three appearances for Chiefs, winning two and losing one. Peterson acknowledges the importance of competition: “Competition is always good for me,” admitted Petersen.
“I love competition because if there is no competition you tend to become relax. So, for me health competition is good.
“If you have competition within the team, that is the best. For me, it has been good.
“Obviously, I have been out with (finger) injury, but I’m back to full fitness and looking forward to start competing now for number one spot.”
Despite an injury setback, Petersen is fully fit and ready to challenge for the starting position: “Fiacre has been doing well and he has my backing one hundred percent because if I play, I expect that. So, for me I’m looking forward to the season fighting for the number one spot and when I get the opportunity to play and grab it with both hands and just contributing to doing well for the team.”
Chiefs were drawn in the Carling Knockout Cup round of 16 against SuperSport United and the game will take next weekend away. These two sides will also meet in the Betway Premiership match on 26 October.
While Petersen is cautious about making promises, he emphasizes the team’s commitment to giving their all: “At the moment, I can’t be promising all the trophies because in the past we have been promising things and it didn’t happen,” he said.
“So, for me, one thing I can promise is that we will go out every game and give our best. As you can see the supporters are coming back to the stadium, shouting for us, supporting us – that means a lot to us.
“You can see the guys are trying, the guys are giving their all on the field. I think from here we can only grow and get better.”
