Kaizer Chiefs have a tough assignment up north of the country on Saturday afternoon where they will be hosted by DStv Premiership comeback kids Polokwane City, in their first meeting since City gained promotion last season.
The match takes place at the Peter Mokaba Stadium and kick-off is at 3.30pm.
Amakhosi were victorious in their last match against Moroka Swallows, with Christian Saile netting the only goal of the match two weeks ago. City, on the other hand, are winless in their last five matches and suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat in the last encounter against TS Galaxy on November 26.
City have recently made changes to their technical team, with coach Lehlohonolo Seema moving to neighbours, Sekhukhune United, after leaving Phuti Mohafe.
Key figures missing
Amakhosi coach, Cavin Johnson will still be without some key figures as was the case in the last match. Among the players missing will be Thatayaone Ditlhokwe, Itumeleng Khune and a few others who are still being assessed by the medical team.
Said Johnson ahead of the match: “I think from the last game we played against Swallows, we’ve had a week’s break, during which we played a friendly against one of the First Division teams and it was a good exercise, but in saying that it’s always difficult to ensure the players maintain their work ethic and the ability to take the team to another level. But I must say I haven’t seen a team maintain that level and keep wanting to push further for a long time. I must give them credit. They are doing very, very well at training, even the injured ones.”
“So, preparing for Polokwane City has been quite a challenge for our technical team because we actually had to hold them back sometimes. They are so eager; they just want to get going. We know the heat is on another level, but we have come here to train to get used to it and we have taken other measures to ensure they cope with the heat. Our stats against Swallows in the heat were very good so it doesn’t bother us. We are focused on playing our opponents and being at our best,” he added.
