Loss of Miguel in the warm-up ‘cost Chiefs the game’ against Bay — Kaze

Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze has called for calmness amid their poor run of form.

Chiefs suffered their fourth successive defeat across all competitions after being stunned 1-0 by Richards Bay FC in their Betway Premiership clash at Richards Bay Stadium on Tuesday night. Thulani Gumede’s 69th-minute goal sank Amakhosi, dimming their hopes of finishing in the top three.

Kaze said he believed the loss of centreback Inácio Miguel in the warm-up, meaning Chiefs had to completely rejig their backline, cost his team the game.

Three league defeats in succession — Chiefs also lost 2-1 against Stellenbosch FC last week before their demoralising 2-0 thumping by Orlando Pirates, also at FNB Stadium, in Saturday’s Soweto derby — have left Amakhosi in fifth place, 11 points adrift of leaders Bucs.

“It’s a disappointing result, it’s a bad moment, but we need to keep our heads straight and be calm and work very hard to get back to our good days,” Kaze said after Tuesday night’s defeat.

“It’s a difficult time. Sometimes a team goes through something like this, and that’s where we need to stay calm and find solutions because if we start panicking things can get worse.”

Miguel sustained an injury during the warm-ups, forcing him to be replaced by Bradley Cross in the starting XI. That meant Chiefs had to soldier on with a new back four who had not played together before as Cross partnered with fellow left-footer Aden McCarthy in central defence.

At left-back Nkanyiso Shinga made his long-awaited Chiefs debut before he was stretchered off after suffering a self-inflicted injury around the 80th minute, leaving Amakhosi to finish the game with 10 men as they had exhausted their substitutions. Dillan Solomons, who has been in and out of the team, started at right-back.

“To lose Miguel in the warm-up, with Zitha [Kwinika] suspended, we had to change the whole defence and that wasn’t ideal. I think that cost us the game,” Kaze said.

Sibongiseni Mthethwa unexpectedly returned to Chiefs’ starting XI to captain the side, having recently recovered from a medium-term injury that had sidelined the midfielder since November last year.

Chiefs’ next game in the league is against Durban City at FNB Stadium on March 15.

Sowetan