Chiefs’ Da Cruz still believes in title chances
'There are 21 games left,' noted the Chiefs head coach.
Fernando Da Cruz, the head coach of Kaizer Chiefs, remains hopeful that his team can still challenge for the Betway Premiership title, despite falling 11 points behind Orlando Pirates. In a match held at FNB Stadium on Saturday, Chiefs suffered a 2-1 loss to their Soweto rivals. The coach acknowledged that the team's recent form has been inconsistent, with a four-game winless streak.
"It is more difficult after this game," Da Cruz remarked, "but the PSL is a long journey. There are 21 games left and when we recover our injured players, this side will have more consistency of performance." The coach further discussed the availability of key strikers Khanyisa Mayo and Etiosa Ighodaro. Mayo has been sidelined all season due to a herniated disc, while Ighodaro has only played five times, without scoring.
"Mayo is a quality player," Da Cruz said, "but he was not physically ready for today's game. Ighodaro needs to understand our game model better, and we will work with him." Chiefs will face Siwelele FC in the quarterfinals of the Carling Black Label Knockout tournament this weekend. While the team might still have aspirations for silverware, their best hopes lie in the Carling Knockout and the Nedbank Cup.
The upcoming matches could be the key to Chiefs' silverware hopes this season, as their hopes of reaching the Caf Confederation Cup group stages were ended by Zambia's Red Arrows in a penalty shootout. Despite the challenges, Da Cruz stresses the importance of trust and patience in the team's development. "Our young players must learn to have consistency, but it takes time and is a process," he emphasized.
"We need to go step by step, we are not at this step (of consistency) at the moment, but we will work and will reach this step."
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
