Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze has blamed the unavailability of some key players as the reason they found themselves inadequate in their 1-0 loss to lukewarm Richards Bay FC at the Umhlathuze Sports Complex on Tuesday night.
It was Amakhosi’s fourth defeat in a row in the Betway Premiership and the CAF Confederation Cup, and Kaze, together with his co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef, is now staring down the barrel of the gun. The result somewhat dented Chiefs’ quest to win the Betway League, the only competition that they can still win, mathematically.
Shaky defence
Amakhosi missed the defensive pairing of Inacio Miguel, who was injured during the warm-up, and Zitha Kwinike, who was suspended and not available for the match.
“It was a very disappointing result; we started well, and we thought that we were in the game,” Kaze told Supersport TV after the match.
“But unfortunately, we conceded a goal on an individual mistake because we were a little shaky in our defence. The injury of Miguel during the warm-up and the suspension of Zitha forced us to change the whole defence. I believe that those factors cost us the game.
“But we have to do better, and the only thing is to go back to the training field and work very hard and hope that we get our defenders who are injured or suspended back on the team.
“Miguel felt something early in the morning, and we tried to fix it – we assessed him during the warm-up before the match, and we decided that he could not take his place in the field,” he added.
“It is true that we had possession in the first half, but it does not help if it not breaking lines, or we are not threatening the opposition in their box. We introduced players like Lilepo [Glody], Mduduzi Shabalala, and Luke Baartman as well, but unfortunately, we conceded a goal.
One man down
“We had to finish with 10 players after Nkanyiso Shinga was injured when our substitutes were finished, and we had to finish the game with 10 players. I believe this bad moment will pass, but we need to stay together, keep together, and work very hard,” Kaze explained further.
