THE COACH of Kaizer Chiefs, Cedric Kaze, was impressed with the way Thabo Cele and Gastin Sirino played in the Betway Premiership match against Polokwane City which ended in a 0-0 draw at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane, on Saturday.
Chiefs’ draw against Polokwane interrupted their streak of winning five games in a row.
Cele, who played in Siphesihle Ndlovu’s place, was the first time this season that he was in a scheme that started the game, he played it and finished it.
Ahead of Saturday’s match against Polokwane, the midfielder who hails from Mashu, Durban, made his first appearance on Wednesday, entering from Chiefs beat Magesi FC 4-1 on the bench.
And before that, he was last seen in February in the home team of Soweto which was defeated by Pirates beating Chiefs 3-0.
And Sirino, who came from the bench in Polokwane, last played in March when Amakhosi played against Magesi in the first round.
“They are players who play an important role in the team, even though we have a big squad.
“They played very well, and the competition is good among the players in the team, everyone is working hard to get the jersey,” said Kaze who trains together with Khalil Ben Youssef.
When asked about playing Cele instead of Ndlovu, Kaze made it clear that the reason for not playing Ndlovu, who is competing for the jersey with Cele, is because he was afraid that he might get another card as he already has another yellow card.
He denied that it was because he was thinking about the home game against the Pirates on Saturday.
“No, the decision to play Cele was the type of team we were playing with and we felt we should play him,” continued Kaze who said they will fight to the end in the remaining six games.
“Things didn’t go the way we planned and we didn’t use the opportunities we got.
“But we are determined to do better in the next games, fight for 18 points in the remaining games. We will fight until the end.”
Amakhosi will meet Zimnyama in the home team of Soweto, which is eagerly watched by many football fans on Sunday at 3 pm, at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg.