Kaizer Chiefs likely to miss five players in MTN8 tie away to Stellenbosch
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane may have to juggle his squad around when Amakhosi visit Stellenbosch FC in their MTN8 quarterfinal on Sunday, with as many as five players likely to be out of contention for various reasons.
Midfielder Yusuf Maart won’t play as he’s serving his last match on suspension after getting a red card in a DStv Premiership match against Richards Bay FC last Saturday.
Zwane said on Thursday that striker Ashley du Preez and fullback Reeve Frosler are unlikely to play as they’re still nursing injuries they suffered during Chiefs’ first five matches in the league.
The Chiefs coach is also crossing his fingers that his two new foreign signings, left-back Edmilson Dove and striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana, will have their work permits by the time Amakhosi line up against Stellenbosch FC at Danie Craven Stadium (3pm).
“We still don’t have few of our key players like Ashley. Reeve also might not be available as I’m waiting for my medical team to give us a report about him,” Zwane said.
Chiefs’ fans will at least be happy to know that midfielder Siyethemba Sithebe, who limped off against City on Tuesday, will be available.
“I think in Sithebe’s case it was a matter of too much loading and that’s why you’ve seen that in some other games I had to substitute him. We had to manage his load.
“The other guys are out because we’re still waiting for their work permits. It will be much better for us [to have Dove and Bimenyimana] because we can then strike the balance that we want to have and also help the players who have been playing week in, week out, because the games have been coming thick and fast.
“At some point we wanted to rest Keagan [Dolly] and Khama [Billiat] but it was always going to be difficult because those are two of our key players. They’re there to help the youngsters too because if we’re going to throw them [the young players] into the deep end it’s going to be a make or break situation, and that’s not what we want.
“We would rather introduce them [gradually] like we’re doing with Mduduzi [Shabalala] when we’re leading 2-0 and when maybe it’s the last 15 minutes of the game and we know we need to manage the game. That’s the right way to do it.”
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