Kaizer Chiefs skipper Bernard Parker has urged his side to ‘soldier on and keep fighting’ after securing their place in the semi-finals of the Caf Champions League.

Despite suffering a 3-0 defeat in their quarter-final second leg, Amakhosi advanced to the next round after claiming a 4-3 aggregate victory over Simba in the two-legged fixture.

The Soweto giants will now take on Wydad Casablanca in the last four as they look to secure their progress to the final.

Parker says that Simba were not a walk in the park while admitting that they had to mentally prepare for the onslaught of Simba’s attacking line on Saturday.

‘It was a tough one, very tough. We knew it was going to be this tough and prepared ourselves mentally,’ Parker told his club’s official website.

‘They kept pumping balls forward and kept our defence busy and on the backfoot. They forced errors out of our defence and they managed to get goals.’

The veteran striker admits that having the crowd inside the stadium helped Simba, but praised his side for going all out to secure their spot in the semi-finals.

‘The crowd was rallying them on and we knew they were going to be more motivated and come out guns blazing,’ he added.

‘We kept our cool; we kept resisting and we kept fighting under those circumstances. When the third goal came in, it was a bit of a worrying factor, but we held on. Well done to Willard Katsande for blocking a shot on the line. The subs who came in also did well.’

Parker admits that their defeat by the Tanzanian side was a learning curve for Amakhosi heading into the next round of the competition.

‘We can take a lot of positives out of this match going into the next round knowing that whenever we play away, we have to defend with our lives,’ he added. ‘When we play at home, we have to win and get goals.

‘Overall a good fight from the guys and I think if we had given it 10% more, we would have got a goal. We looked dangerous on set plays. Every time we got a corner or a free kick, we looked dangerous with a little more belief in ourselves we can go all the way.’

The Chiefs skipper is now hopeful that Chiefs can push beyond their semi-final clash with Wydad and get to the final for the first time in the club’s history, but they are already focused on their upcoming DStv Premiership clash with Black Leopards on Wednesday.

‘It is now up to us to stick together and stay united. We should push one another and focus on the next match,’ he stressed. ‘It’s been a good match in Tanzania and the reception we received was great. It’s just now for us to soldier on and keep fighting. Thankfully we are in the next round.

‘All our faces lit up when we saw supporters in the stands. We all miss our supporters and it was good to play with supporters in the stadium. It was a wonderful game and the referee was fair. Thanks to the group of Chiefs fans who came to support on the day and for living up to the love and peace slogan.’