With the start of the 2007 – 2008 season days away from kicking off Kaizer Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral has been taking his players through the mill so to speak, as he does the final preparation work ahead of Chiefs opening game on the 15th August against Benoni Premier United.

The talking will soon stop for the Chiefs coach and the hard work will begin when the season gets underway. At the moment the Amakhosi coach has been pleased with the progress made by his team and has also singled out David Mathebula for special praise.

The twenty-four year old midfielder recently struck a hat trick for Chiefs in a 5-0 friendly win against an East Driefotein mine team in a practice match, played under lights on Wednesday evening at a mine stadium south-east of Johannesburg.

Mathebula, who hails from Elim in the Limpopo province, joined Chiefs at the start of the 2004-05 season and has thus far scored five goals in 38 matches for the club. He was also instrumental in Chiefs run as they won the ABSA Cup in 2006.

The player who wears the number twenty-four jersey is looking to make a huge impact on the PSL this season, and is hoping to both create and score goals in what he believes will be a very joyful season for The Amakhosi.

Striking ambitions

During Wednesday evening's rout of the mine team, Mathebula also helped set up Chiefs young off season striking recruit, Tshepo Bulu, who netted Chiefs fifth goal of the game. Mathebula is hoping that he will be able to find the front man with ease in the new season.

“I think that something that was lacking in our game last season was the ability of the midfield to get goals and create enough opportunities for the strikers. We are the heartbeat of the team, so a lot depends on our ability to be creative and keep open the supply line.”

Mathebula fully intends to be instrumental in that department this season and harbors goal-scoring ambitions of his own, he continued further by adding “I believe that I should be scoring at least eight goals or more a season. If I can achieve this it would be really wonderful. What it would fundamentally mean is that should I be getting this amount of goals, then the front men could be scoring in excess of twenty goals in any given season”.

Abundance of firepower

Mathebula is further confident that it is more than possible for one or more of the Chiefs strikers to find their way into double figures on the scoring charts this coming season, as he truly feels that the Amakhosi possess some of the deadliest strikers in the PSL.

“We have the experience of strikers like Shaun Bartlett to help develop the likes Tshepo Bulu. And from the way things are progressing at the moment for a young, up and coming player like Tshepo, time playing alongside a player like Shaun will help him develop into an accomplished striker.”

In totality Chiefs have, according to Mathebula, a squad capable of notching up PSL title number three for Chiefs.

“Personally, I feel fit and ready for the season. I believe that for me the pre-season went well, all of the guys are generally pleased with their form and fitness, and soon we should have the likes of Kaizer Junior back in training and hopefully within a couple of weeks he will be fit enough to play in matches.

"Having a fully fit Kaizer back will only help boost our chances of winning the league. While he missed out on winning the golden boot last season, I feel that Kaizer definitely has a keen eye for goal and the potential to end off the season as the league's top goal scorer.”