Bafana Bafana defender Siyanda Xulu says they cannot be complacent in their back-to-back Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia.

South Africa are gearing up to face the Ethiopians, starting with a trip to the Bahir Dar Stadium on Saturday before welcoming the same opponents to the FNB Stadium for the return leg on Tuesday.

Hugo Broos’ side currently sit atop the Group G standings with four points after two games, following their goalless draw with Zimbabwe before securing a narrow 1-0 win over the Black Stars of Ghana.

Xulu insists they will show Ethiopia the same respect as they did Ghana in their 1-0 victory over the four-time African champions in their previous qualifying match.

“We don’t want to be complacent about what happened against Ghana, because we know very well that we were able to perform the way we did because of the preparations we had and the respect we gave to Ghana,” Xulu told media.

“We are going to do the same thing against Ethiopia. They are going to earn our respect and we are going to prepare the way we always do whenever we play our tough encounters.

“That we have beaten Ghana and now we think that we have reached whatever it is that we want to reach, no. We are not even nearly there. We have played two matches but it does not mean anything, because there are still four matches to play.

“The fact that Ethiopia is sharing the same [three] points as Ghana shows that it is never easy. We watched the Ethiopia match against Ghana before we played Zimbabwe and they were competitive,” he continued.

“They were getting into Ghana’s box, they were having chances and missing them, which shows they are a good team and they deserve respect.

“We are very aware of the competition we are going to be up against because we are playing them at home. That is why I was persistent in warning the guys against being complacent.”