Chiefs coach offers new update on spate of injuries

Chiefs will embark on a quest for a much-needed trophy this season when they travel to KwaZulu-Natal to face Maritzburg United in the Nedbank Cup on Friday evening.

South Africa’s flagship knockout competition takes on added significance for coach Arthur Zwane and his team considering that the league title has effectively already been wrapped up by Sundowns.

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By the sounds of it, Chiefs’ lengthy casualty list could open the door for a number of so-called fringe players to come into the reckoning for the Maritzburg trip.

In the latest update offered by Arthur Zwane, he said the team simply had to deal with the cards they’ve been dealt.

“That has been our challenge since the beginning of the season, to keep the first XI and build on it. We’ve been hampered by injuries and other situations beyond our control, in terms of managing the squad. When some get injured, it gives others the opportunity to play.

“We’ve done well, we managed to keep everyone on their toes. Injuries or no injuries, at the end of the day we have to prepare 11 players that will start, plus substitutes coming from the bench and impacting the game in our favour, so we balance the scales.

“So far it’s not bad, given that we have a lot of new players in the squad, trying to adapt and trying to understand what Kaizer Chiefs is all about. Some are only now realising Kaizer Chiefs are a huge brand and they have to settle in very quickly, because of the demands of playing for a club of Chiefs’ calibre.”

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It’s already been suggested earlier in the week that there will be some new opportunities offered to youngsters.

“As I mentioned, we have a lot of injuries in the squad so we have to look at how we are going to approach the game because players might share a position but they are not the same and we have our way of doing things,” Zwane said, as per the Chiefs website. “It gives other players an opportunity, most definitely. What is key is that we, the technical staff, create competition within the squad, which is what has been happening.”

Depending on the squad assessment, Zwane may be tempted to promote some of the starlets lighting up the DDC league into the match-day squad to give them some invaluable experience.

“I’m not too sure at the moment because we have a lot of injuries. We will see when we start preparations this afternoon as to whether we will be able to give an opportunity to one or two of them,” he said while remaining circumspect, cautioning, “But this is a cup game and we want to go through to the next round.”

The match at Harry Gwala stadium in Pietermaritzburg kicks off at 19:30.

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CHIEFS ARE DEALING WITH A HEAVY INJURY TOLL

Just recently, Reeve Frosler and Dillan Solomons were the latest to be added to the injury list, while Khama Billiat and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo have undergone surgery.

On a more positive note physiotherapist David Milner suggests that one key player is not far from a full recovery.

“Cole Alexander has come out of the moon boot. He has started running again and we are hoping to get him back into training soon and then we’ll progress from there,” he said.

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