They know they’ve had a poor season, but Kaizer Chiefs’ defence has been hard at work to ensure they step up when it matters most against Wydad Athletic Club in the CAF Champions League semi-final this weekend.

“We haven’t had the best of seasons defensively, we’ve leaked quite a few goals. The last few sessions we have worked a lot on our defensive structure and we’ve looked a lot better. We have to go there and look not to concede any goals and hopefully our strikers can put one or two in too, and the same happens at home. We have to all come together, be disciplined and work as a team,” Kaizer Chiefs central defender Daniel Cardoso said ahead of this weekend’s first leg against Wydad.

A porous defence has cost Chiefs dearly in the DStv Premiership this season, but Cardoso says the team is buoyed by victories in their last two league games, and by keeping a clean sheet in their important final game against TS Galaxy.

“The environment is good in the team at the moment. Winning our last two league games was a good morale booster. Getting into the Top 8 clears our minds and ensures we only have to focus on the CAF Champions League trophy. We’re going up against a great team in Wydad, who showed their class when they beat us away. But we’re going into this encounter with a good mind, a fresh mind. We’ve been studying them, watching them, we know what to expect. We’ve got to put our best foot forward on the field and make sure we come home with a victory,” says Cardoso.

He is happy that the VAR system will be in place in the CAF semi-finals, saying it will even the playing fields and ensure fair officiating.

“VAR is a good initiative, hopefully it can help both sides and ensures teams can’t cheat blatantly,” says Cardoso.

He believes stand-in head coaches Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard “have come into the fold and done very well with us”.

“They’ve got us working very hard on the training ground. You can see there’s a big change and a good vibe. No disrespect to Gavin Hunt, he’s a great coach, it just didn’t work out for him at Kaizer Chiefs, and I wish him all the luck going forward. To our supporters, I know it’s been a hard season, we promise you we will try our hardest, and just need you to be behind us all the way,” says Cardoso.

Young goalkeeper Bruce Bvuma has benefited from injuries and suspensions to Chiefs’ two regular goalkeepers this season, Daniel Akpeyi and Itumeleng Khune, and has played in the last seven Chiefs games, playing a key role in the run to the CAF Champions League semi-finals.

“I am happy that I am involved and I hope I get a chance to play again. I am very proud of myself and of our team’s achievements in reaching the semi-final. We know Wydad well and we believe we are well prepared for them. We are well rested, mentally and physically we are fresh,” says Bvuma.

He is not perturbed by Wydad’s free-scoring recent form.

“As a goalkeeper I am not worried about their strikers scoring goals. As a team we have been working very hard defensively, it’s a different game. We would like to get a goal or two, come back with something, and we will take it from there. This game and this tournament is very important, we know we don’t have a star on our badge, it will be the greatest present to our Chairman and our supporters,” says Bvuma.