Playing Swallows before the derby worries Zwane.

Kaizer Chiefs will host Swallows FC on Monday 01 April at Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane, at 15:00.

But it is the Nedbank Cup semi-final derby clash against Orlando Pirates on 6 May that worries coach Arthur Zwane.

While the Swallows game is important for Chiefs in terms of their ambition to finish second on the log, the upcoming derby clash might affect them negatively, splitting their focus.

Zwane believes it is key for himself and his technical team to manage the mental side of their players going into the Swallows game.

“It's key that, as the technical team, we manage the players and, fortunately, some of us played in these games and we know how important it is for us to keep collecting points before the derby,” Zwane said after his side beat Chippa United 1-0 as quoted by Times Live. https://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/soccer/2023-04-28-it-gets-to-our-players-ears-worry-for-chiefs-coach-zwane-before-soweto-derbies-against-swallows-and-pirates/

“Sometimes the derby [against Pirates] can make you forget what's important. What's key is to take one game at a time and focus on this one.

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“As soon as we've played the game on Monday, we'll start focusing on the Pirates one. It's a bit difficult because people are already talking about the derby, especially after a great performance like this. People are already thinking Pirates, not Swallows.

“It gets to our players' ears and they start thinking about the derby. We have to manage it and we've [when he was a player] been in that situation and I think we have that advantage of helping these players manage the entire squad.”