Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has explained what they will be banking on ahead of the Soweto Derby clash against Orlando Pirates over the weekend.
Chiefs missed the chance to setup a derby MTN8 final against Pirates after they were eliminated in the semi-finals by AmaZulu on the away goals' rule after a 1-1 draw on aggregate. The Glamour Boys did not have any shots on target, as they were held to a goalless draw by Usuthu in the second leg.
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Zwane says their league game in midweek, where they came from behind to draw 2-2 with TS Galaxy took a lot of energy out of his players.
"I think we defended very well and didn’t concede. We also didn’t allow them time and space on the ball. When you look at the chances they created, they were from our mistakes but we fixed that in the second half," Zwane told journalists in a press conference.
"Overall though we played in dribs and drabs and I think maybe playing on Wednesday took a lot out of the boys.
"So, when you look at the game, obviously we know how AmaZulu play, trying to slow the game down and buying time. We wanted to win but ultimately the chances we missed in the first leg came back to haunt us," he carried on.
"We learn from this experience to make us stronger going forward and we’ll get better as time goes on. We are all disappointed that we didn’t win this game and go through to the final but we are on a journey and we must improve."
In contrast to another big game coming up, Chiefs will have a full week to prepare before taking on bitter rivals Pirates in a league game on Saturday.
"Maybe the midweek game took something out of us because we came into today’s game wanting to score but we started making mistakes which killed our momentum," Zwane reiterated.
"We ended up giving possession away cheaply in our haste to get the ball to the final third as quickly as possible. The effort was certainly there but we just lacked a bit of quality and composure to make it count.
"Now, we shift our focus to the next game, which is Orlando Pirates. They have been doing very well so we have to do everything in our power to do well and come out with a positive result," he added.
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Striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana was reportedly a doubt before the AmaZulu game, with fitness issues and needed medical attention early in the second stanza before he was replaced.
The Glamour Boys could also have time to recover players with injury concerns as Zwane explained why they started with Bimenyimana against Usuthu despite his fitness concerns.
"When we were preparing, we looked ok and was doing well in training so we felt we should start with him because we needed his presence inside the box," he said.
"Last game against TS Galaxy, we had a lot of box entries from wide but we didn’t have someone of his height to connect on those crosses. Unfortunately, today (Sunday) we lacked composure in the box. It’s something we have to work on," he added.
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