NEWS: ‘Pressure is a privilege’ – Mduduzi Shabalala opens up on Kaizer Chiefs struggles

The Glamour Boys have had an underwhelming 2024 with a solitary victory in nine matches across all competitions which came against Golden Arrows.

Chiefs are currently languishing in 10th position in the standings with 30 points from 24 games with any hopes of CAF Champions League qualification extinguished.

“From my observation, it’s that we need to keep going even though things are not going our way,” said Shabalala.

“It hasn’t been a good season for us, we still have six games to go and we think everything can just turn in one game.

“If we can win Saturday’s game we can go back to the top eight, ’cause you can see in the table we are not that far.

“It’s all about believing in ourselves, doing it for our fans and family because that is what pushes us more and that’s the motivation behind everything,” he added.

The 20-year-old player also explained how he personally deals with the criticism that they receive from the supporters.

“It’s painful waking up every morning and seeing people doubting you, not having trust in you, and seeing people insulting you in such a way that you are not even a good player.

“But I would say pressure is a privilege, being in such a big team, big institution, and being in the situation that we are in right now.

“It teaches us how to be a man because we are still young and we are the players who will be here in those years where we will be having a good time in our team.

“So, we need to embrace the moment, we suffer as a team, we suffer as young stars and we will continue to work hard hoping for better results,” he concluded

The Soweto giants will host coach Gavin Hunt’s SuperSport United at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in a DStv Premiership clash on Saturday.

Kick-off is at 17:30.