The quick turnaround in Bafana Bafana's fortunes is not a surprise to coach Hugo Broos as he feels this is the result of the hard work the players have put in under his regime.

Since Broos took over, the youthful Bafana are yet to taste defeat, with two victories against Ghana and Ethiopia and a draw with Zimbabwe in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

“We started one month ago with our first camp and when you see the steps we made, it is very good work from the players,” Broos told the media at FNB Stadium yesterday. “I can only ask something and give them something and give solutions. But in the end, it is the players who have to do that.

“In our game against Zimbabwe, they were hesitant. You saw a team that was not confident and didn’t believe in themselves. Then three days after [against Ghana], they were confident and played good football and two days ago, you saw a team that fights. So we made big steps but we are not where we wanted to be and it is impossible in one month to achieve what we like to achieve.

“We are heading in the right direction and I’m very happy with what the players give me and it is growing when I compare it with the first month, and this gives me confidence for the future.”

After their impressive 3-1 victory over Ethiopia on Saturday, Broos expects his players to have the same mentality and not to think that it will be a walkover when they meet them tonight at FNB Stadium (6pm). 

“I’m sure that mentality will not be in the team. I see with the way the guys have behaved at training and see the guys are happy. But I don’t think they will say this will be an easy game, not at all,” he said.

“It will be a different game. We played them on a very bad pitch and now we will play on a good pitch. We are aware that they will be better but we are ready for it."