Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt has urged talented Zimbabwe forward Khama Billiat to put the team first ahead of his eagerness to break his goal duck this season.
This is after the Warriors star endured another frustrating day in front of goal during his team’s 1-0 win over Chippa United in a Dstv Premiership clash on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old Zimbabwe international is yet to open his scoring account for Amakhosi after the first three games of the season.
In some instances, the Mufakose-bred star has appeared desperate to get his name on the score sheet, opting to take shots at goal when it looked better to pass to a better positioned team-mate.
This has not gone unnoticed by Hunt who said after their win at Chippa United on Tuesday night that he has spoken to the Zimbabwean international about it.
“He is a little bit frustrated, and any striker would be,” said Hunt.
“He hasn’t scored much in the last couple of games. (But) He has got to do simpler things, simplify his game a little bit. He tries to be too clever, even in the second half he tried to be clever. In three games now he has had a couple of good chances, (and) as long as he keeps working hard there is another one coming…
“If he keeps running off the ball, keeps defending, keeps doing the right things, he will keep playing,” said the former Bidvest Wits mentor.
He said Billiat just needed to score a goal that will see off the pressure he currently feels and then everything will fall into place for him.
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“I think it is about breaking the ice with him, then he will get a couple (of goals). I thought tonight was his chance, he hit the post once or twice, the second half one was the one he should have scored. He came across the box and opened up the whole goal, he had to hit the target there.
He added: “But he is doing well, and yeah… team first, him second and that’s the most important thing, then we are okay. He can’t think of himself first. On Saturday he tried to shoot from corner flags and things like that, which we can’t accept and I told him. He will get better; as long as he buys in (to my ways) he will get better.”
Billiat – a key figure in Mamelodi Sundowns’ Caf Champions League success of 2016 – managed to score only two goals last season in a forgettable season in which he battled injuries and poor form.
He was at the receiving end of some sharp criticism as Kaizer Chiefs agonisingly missed out on the league championship on the final day to Mamelodi Sundowns but is eager to rediscover his scoring touch under Hunt’s tutelage.
