Had we scored more goals, we could've challenged Mamelodi Sundowns strongly - Ashley du Preez

Speaking to the media ahead of their league game against Marumo Gallants this coming weekend, Du Preez says their goal-scoring return as strikers could’ve been better. 

Between himself, Burundian international striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana and Democratic Republic of Congo attacker, Christian Saile, they have only scored 12 goals in the league this season.

"I'm not happy, I think we can do better. I think we need to find our feet and convert our chances. If we did convert them, things will be different by now. If we did convert them, we could have had a lot of goals. If from the beginning of the season, we had scored from all the chances we created, we would have been fighting for the league with Sundowns," he said.

At Mamelodi Sundowns, the league’s leading goal scorer Peter Shalulile and his striking partner and new sensation Cassius Mailula have scored 20 goals between themselves in the league.

Du Preez who joined Chiefs from Stellenbosch FC at the end of last season was a top goal scorer at the Western Cape club with nine goals in the league last season. He says their conversion rate as strikers could’ve been better.

"When you create chances and don't convert them, I think that's when we need to put in more work during the week in training, practice extra finishing, and do better. We need to do better because there are a lot of new players coming into the club like myself. So, I think we've been finding ourselves," he added.

Chiefs are tied on the second highest number of goals (29) scored in the league with SuperSport United, with Sundowns flying solo on 45 goals.

The 25-year-old has looked likely in the last few matches for Amakhosi having scored two a goal and contributed two assists as well with seven goals overall for the club. 

Reflecting on his season, Du Preez is looking at a strong finish for Amakhosi.

"We've been finding ourselves and I think for the last six games, we aim to win all of those games. We want to end the season, 2nd on the log but we also need to take it one game at a time," he explained.

Du Preez, who also lost his place in the Bafana Bafana late last year and in the recent camp revealed that he had set himself a target of 10 goals in the league this season.

"I haven't achieved my goal yet which was to score 10 goals this season. I'm on four goals in the league and I think in all competitions I have seven goals, so I think I can do more. I'm not happy at the moment, there are still six games to go and a cup game so I think my goal is to score at every game," he concluded.