Molefi Ntseki not tempted to drop Brandon Petersen as Kaizer Chiefs No. 1

Petersen's position has come under increased scrutiny just three matches into the DStv Premiership 2023/24 season, following costly blunders in their most recent defeat to TS Galaxy as well as against Mamelodi Sundowns earlier this month.

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Ntseki is also mindful of the positive influence of the former Ajax Cape Town shot-stopper, who has come up big to spare the team's blushes on several occasions already – most notably against The Brazilians.

"I think we have a very good technical team and goalkeeping department, with our mentor coach Rainer [Dinkelacker], and I think those were mental issues [for Petersen]," defended Ntseki.

"Because when you look at his ability as a goalkeeper, he has done very well for the team, even in the past few games, but the concentration levels were a bit down, that's how he made those mistakes.

"It's not only him that made mistakes that led to us losing the game, I think it's the whole team because, when you look at it, it's a series of mistakes that led to him making the last mistake, which we normally look at to be his mistake.

"I think he has been in the game for some time now, as coaches, we need to be there for the players and this is what we're doing to help him. 

"I understand that mistakes like this will always be costly, but these are the mistakes that we have to eliminate in our game."

With some calling for Petersen's axing and the return of Khune, the veteran former Bafana Bafana goal minder and long-serving club captain, Ntseki insists he will not be trigger-happy.

"When it comes to Itumeleng Khune, something very important is that we have four goalkeepers and all of them are competing for the first position to be in the team," he added.

"When one makes a mistake, you don't just make changes without actually zooming into the problem and helping out, because you might make changes emotionally, and what if the next player makes the same mistake?

"So what is important here [is that] we are a professional team, and we are also treating our players as professionals."

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