Arthur Zwane believes AmaZulu could have secured third place earlier

The KwaZulu-Natal-based outfit is currently seventh on the Betway Premiership log, having collected 33 points from 25 matches-just four points behind third-placed Sekhukhune United, who have 37 points from only 23 games.

"The ball is in our hands. It's all up to us if we want to play in the Confederation Cup-it depends on how we execute ourselves in the upcoming games. We need to win all our remaining matches, and when I look at the squad we've assembled, the character we've shown this season is promising," Zwane told Sowetan.

"When we started, people saw us as a relegation team. But now, we've actually had five opportunities to claim third place. You can imagine where we'd be if we had taken advantage-just six more points would have secured that top-three spot for us."

Zwane believes Usuthu could have already sealed third place, but costly mistakes in key games have held them back.

"I always believe that certain things happen for a reason. We're learning every day, and our players are growing in stature. If you look at how we played in previous matches, we should have secured this position a long time ago. The worst result we should've had was a draw," he added.

"We are our own enemies. Not many teams beat AmaZulu - it's often our own mistakes that cost us, and they're very costly. But I think we started to fix that in our last game against Richards Bay. We're just looking forward to the next game. I'm not worried about the opposition. This team has character."

Following a 1–0 win over Richards Bay FC, Zwane will be hoping his side builds on that momentum when they face Stellenbosch FC at Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday.