Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder, Lebohang Mokoena, says talk of their match against Kaizer Chiefs on the weekend being a title decider, is premature at this stage.

The two sides are both sitting on 49 points in the Absa Premiership table, but Sundowns have played two games more than Chiefs. Going into this potentially thrilling encounter, many are of the belief that the team that emerges victorious, will have a good chance of going on to win the league, but the 27-year-old believes it is far from over, and the race will probably go down to the wire. Mokoena has battled injury in his career, but has recently come back with a bang, scoring three goals in the last three games.

“Against Chiefs we want to continue our good run and we are not putting ourselves under any pressure, because we fully understand that the match is not a title decider, as believed by many. The other factor to consider is that there are still other teams still with a mathematical chance. Even if you look at the situation just from both Sundowns and Chiefs point of view, the title will still not be decided on Saturday because both sides will still have more than four matches left before the end of the season,” he told Sundowns’ official website.

He continued, “Besides we know that if we put the title talk in our minds we would be putting ourselves under unnecessary pressure, while there are far more important things we should be thinking about. Collecting maximum points from the match should be the only thing in our minds. Don’t get me wrong when I say the match won’t necessarily be a title decider because this is a titanic battle.

"It’s just that we as Sundowns players have decided to focus on what we have been doing right in the matches we have won and not on all this title talk. We know what we have to do and we are really glad that we are not the ones under pressure ahead of this match. Chiefs just come back from a unfortunate Champions’ League exit and will want to prove something.”