As goalkeepers we don’t like dirty sheets, says in-form Petersen as Kaizer Chiefs prepare for Arrows

Brandon Peterson may have not yet managed to become a regular goalkeeper at Kaizer Chiefs, but he says fighting for the jersey alongside Itumeleng Khune has kept him motivated.

The 28-year-old gloveman joined Amakhosi in 2021 and has been in and out of the team’s starting XI, playing only 11 matches in his first season before earning nine matches in the current campaign, including the last three in which he kept clean sheets.    

“Itu (Khune) is a legend and having him is a motivation in itself because the guy has been around,” Petersen said at Chiefs village in Naturena this week ahead of Amakhosi’s trip to Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane where they’ll host Lamontville Golden Arrows in a DStv Premiership encounter on Sunday.

“Khune has achieved a lot with the club and the national team. He’s good person to look up to as a football figure. For us as goalkeepers we’re brothers and that helps us to push each other.

“Having Khune and knowing what he’s achieved is definitely a motivation for us to keep working, keep pushing and maybe one day we’ll reach the highs he did.”        

Petersen said playing the last three games for Chiefs does not mean he can be regarded as the club’s number one shot-stopper.

“ I’ve never secured the number one spot. I have to train and prove myself every day at training and I have to earn my number one spot. I will never tell you I’m number one goalkeeper. At the end of the day I don’t pick the team.

“The coach picks the team and I have to keep myself ready come match day,” said Petersen, who should keep his position in Sunday's game.

Petersen said he was glad he arrived at Chiefs matured enough to handle the pressure that comes with playing for a glamorous club.

“In football I think pressure is normal. If you don’t like pressure you shouldn’t be a footballer. For me it’s no longer that bad,” he said.

“I’ve been there (Chiefs) for a while and pressure is normal for me. I feed off that pressure to perform and it makes me stay focused.”

The support he, Khune and Bruce Bvuma give each other was very important, said Petersen.

“We have a good relationship and I think for us i i’s healthy competition because when I’m doing well I’m pushing them to become better. At the end of the day whoever the coach picks he's more than capable of doing the job.

“It is important to have that chemistry because it doesn’t matter who plays. Supporting one another, being that bother, means whoever is picked we’re there to support him.”

Petersen said keeping clean sheets is not about him but about how the whole team has been performing well in the last three games, bouncing back from the three league defeats against Sekhukhune United, Mamelodi Sundowns and AmaZulu where they conceded six goals and failed to score.

“As goalkeepers we like clean sheets, we don’t like dirty sheets. If you don’t concede you can’t lose. But it’s not only for us as goalkeepers, even our defence has played its part and I think a lot of credit has to go to them. If you check the last few games we’ve been defending and attacking as a team and we’ve had chances that started from the goalkeeper.

“We’ve defended goals that started from the strikers chasing back and wingers chasing back. I think credit goes to the whole team but it’s important for us to have clean sheets. We feed off that and it builds our confidence as goalkeepers because if you have clean sheets you know you’re secured and the team can’t lose.”