One of the longest serving centre backs at Tornado, Siphiwe Kwanya thinks they have what it needs to take on Kaizer Chiefs when the two sides lock horns in a Nedbank Cup clash at Sisa Dukashe Stadium on Sunday.
Kwanya, who was part of the Tornado squad that went to the ABC Motsepe League Promotional Playoffs in Polokwane last season, admitted they had to fight tooth and nail to win against the Amakhosi.
“We’re still fighting for our dreams, which are to win the league and do well in the Nedbank Cup as well.
“But with all that said, this is a big game for us, and there’s definitely no pressure on us as players because this is part of our job,” said Kwanya.
He said the third-tier league reigning champions had already been put to the test during the preliminary round of the lucrative cup competition. Hence they were going into this encounter with cool heads.
“We had to fight our local teams to get to face Chiefs, so there’s nothing out of the ordinary about this. We just have to show up to the party on the day.
“But we are heading to Sunday with confidence because we had proper preparations. Everyone has been showing good spirits during league games and training sessions.
“And Chiefs should know that we’ll take the game to them. We won’t let them dictate to us, because at the end we all want to achieve something as a club.”
Kwanya said their 4-nil victory when they were away to Highbury over the weekend gave them a much needed pick up after finishing the first round of the season with a 2-1 loss to Peace Makers.
“When we closed for the festive holiday break we lost, and I believe that if we closed with a win we would have been in a much better place on the log.
“We are sitting at second position on the log, which means that those three points we missed cost us the lead.
“So this game we won over the weekend really helped us get our confidence back. But that’s past, and I’m glad that the guys were able to work together and score that number of goals,” said Kwanya.
The prolific defender, who had a great working relationship with former Tornado captain Charles Gallagher, who’s now playing for AmaZulu in the PSL, said nothing had changed since his partner in crime departed from the club.
“As we all know Chiefs play with three guys forward, and the person they always leave in the centre is [Leonardo] Castro.
“But they are a moving team. You won’t find him anywhere but inside the pitch. So I will be monitoring that three in front – guarding against any threat they pose.
“Even with Charles [Gallagher] gone we will be able to do things accordingly and defend our territory, and it’s a good thing that he got the chance to play at that level again.
“That’s what we all want and we’re still communicating, because he is more than an ex-teammate to me,” said Kwanya...