Kaizer Chiefs: Injury-prone striker fires warning to Sundowns and Pirates

Kaizer Chiefs striker Etiosa Ighodaro is confident of turning the page on his career at the club after a difficult first year at Naturena.

Ighodaro joined Chiefs with much promise in 2025 but endured a frustrating season as injuries limited him to just seven appearances in the 2025-26 campaign.

The striker scored just one goal, in the CAF Confederation Cup last October, having missed the opening months of the season with an injury, and he would not be seen again from December until the season ended.

Ighodaro is, however, hoping for a new lease of life under new coach Fernando da Cruz after working with him in pre-season and then managing to feature in three games so far this term.

Chiefs striker relieved tough times are over

“Last season was quite frustrating for me because of injuries but that is behind me now and I am looking forward to a great season,” the 25-year-old told the club’s media. “Hopefully, you’ll see the best of me. I am pushing myself hard to make the club and the supporters proud.”

Ighadoro is pinning his hopes on a great pre-season that the squad had in Spain and admits he now feels better and ready to fire Chiefs to success amid stiff competition from Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.

“I really benefitted from pre-season because I didn’t play a lot last season so I needed the minutes in the practice games to build my confidence,” he added, expressing a desire to start scoring soon.

The former Sundowns forward has so far started one game and came off the bench twice. His last match was last week when he came on in the final 14 minutes as Chiefs rallied from behind to draw 2-2 with Richards Bay.

Ighodaro’s message to Pirates and Sundowns

As Amakhosi host Siwelele FC at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday, Ighodaro is confident that they can get back to winning ways although he is warning against underestimating the Bloemfontein-based side.

“Preparations are going well. We weren’t satisfied with getting only one point in our last game and we are working hard to make sure we don’t slip up on Sunday,” he further stated.

“Siwelele play aggressively with a lot of commitment so we are ready for their physicality, but we believe in ourselves and our own ability to come out on top.”

A win for Chiefs on Sunday would move them two points behind Sundowns and Pirates, who both have 13, and ignite their title aspirations, but he feels it is too early to start thinking of that.

“We don’t focus on how other teams are doing. We prefer to concentrate on how we want to play and what we want to achieve. We have a very good squad and a great technical team that prepares us for whichever opponent we have to face. Our aim is always to win the next game,” he said.