Tshabalala upbeat despite defeat

Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs captain Siphiwe Tshabalala is confident they will be a force to be reckoned with this season despite their loss to Orlando Pirates on Saturday.

Amakhosi continued their torrid form in the Carling Black Label Cup this weekend, losing for the fourth time in five iterations of the event and for the third time on penalties.

The match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, with Reneilwe Letsholonyane equalising after Sifiso Myeni had given Pirates the lead in the first half with a sublime free-kick.

Chiefs begin their season in earnest this week when they welcome Maritzburg United to the FNB Stadium in the MTN8 competition on Wednesday.

Tshabalala is aware it will not be easy for them to retain either MTN8 or Premiership titles this season, but he believes they are more than capable of meeting the challenge.

"We will be good. Look at the way we played in the second half on Saturday," he told Soccer Laduma.

"That shows you where we can go from here. We can be improving each and every game that we play and make sure we win things this season again.

"We are a good team and we will be good in the new season," he concluded.