Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Dillon Sheppard says his side are fully focused and in the right headspace ahead of their Nedbank Cup last 16 clash against Casric Stars at the FNB Stadium on Sunday.

Amakhosi made their way to this stage of the competition after they defeated Maritzburg United 2-0 at the Harry Gwala Stadium through goals from Christian Basomboli and Ashley Du Preez.

Meanwhile, Stars reached this stage of the competition with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Mkhambathi FC courtesy of a brace by Kgomotso Mosadi and goals from Mumuni Abubakar and Siyabonga Nkosi, respectively.

Sheppard has since urged his side to be more consistent on the field as they look to keep a clean sheet against the Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit.

“There’s a quarter-final berth to play for in a very important competition,” he stated frankly,

“Preparation has gone really well. In two games now, two clean sheets. We are gaining momentum. The energy has been really good and the players are looking forward to the match. It’s about momentum, not just in the Nedbank Cup but also for the upcoming league games.

“We want to go forward in the right headspace with the right energy and that’s what we have been seeing from the players.

“If you take the Golden Arrows game, we had kept three clean sheets going into that game and had a lot of positivity.

“Then, all of a sudden, it’s one of those games where we took the lead twice and I don’t want to say we threw it away but a few errors here and there knocked the confidence. Now we feel like we are back where we were before, playing with more consistency.

“It’s important for us to focus now on the game coming up and to take that confidence and consistency onto the field.”

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