Johnson vows to end Chiefs' trophy drought

Kaizer Chiefs caretaker coach Cavin Johnson appears to be already picturing himself as the man to finally end Amakhosi’s trophy drought, targeting the Nedbank Cup as he prays the “gods of football” favour him and the club.

Amakhosi, who last lifted a cup when they were league champions in the 2014/15 season, clash second tier side Milford in the Nedbank Cup last 32 at FNB Stadium on Sunday (6pm). Johnson, who was installed as an interim mentor when the club sacked Molefi Ntseki in October, understands the magnitude of ending the Chiefs’ cup drought as he aims to inspire the side to go all out in the Ke Yona cup.

“Personally, it would mean the world to end the club’s trophy drought. I think it would also be huge for the club and its massive following. Hopefully, the gods of football are on my side or not on my side but on the club’s side so that we are able to display a lot of what we’ve been working on and score as many goals as we can because we are also struggling in that department,” Johnson told a press conference at the league’s offices in Parktown yesterday.

“If I was here from the beginning, I’d have said ‘guys there are four trophies on offer, I want to win all of them’. This is the last one that’s on offer, let’s hope Sundowns lose five games in the league and we have a chance to win the league as well.

“In saying that, realistically that’s the only cup that’s on offer for all of us and it’s the start of the competition, so we are putting our emphasis on it.”

Johnson has assured that they won’t take Milford lightly. The KZN-based side are 12th in the Motsepe Foundation Championship log with 20 points, 14 behind leaders University of Pretoria, from 19 outings.

“We are at home playing against Milford but we give them all the respect as far as football is concerned. We know we will be the favourites on the day, therefore we need to prepare extra hard,” Johnson noted.