Former Warriors captain Willard Katsande has sent a message of encouragement to his Kaizer Chiefs team-mate Khama Billiat ahead of the 2019 Afcon.

Billiat had a decent campaign in his debut season at Amakhosi, netting a total of 17 goals in all competitions but his contribution was overshadowed by the team’s poor performance.

In an interview with KickOff.com, Katsande revealed that he has given some words of encouragement to lift the 28-year-old’s spirits ahead of the upcoming Afcon, where he will represent Zimbabwe’s Warriors.

“I told him after the [Nedbank Cup] final that: You know boy, this is the end of 2018/19 season, we need you for AFCON because you are our top player,” Katsande said.

“Whenever you click, it’s easy for the nation to get the positive result. And I always remind him how good and how important he is in this business of football.

“Sometimes, with these kids like Khama, they don’t realise how important they are in the game, so we always remind him that.

“Those are the kinds of players you need to keep reminding how good they are, and whenever they are down, you can only pick them up by showering them with positive comments.

“I also tell him, that one bad game doesn’t define you, missing one chance doesn’t mean that you are going to struggle and he is still the top player because he has been on top of his game for the past six-to-eight years.”