Kaze explains why it took eight months for Shinga to make Chiefs debut

Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze has discussed why it took so long to unleash defender Nkanyiso Shinga.

Chiefs signed 11 players in the off-season but while some started from the onset, others had to wait for their debuts for the club.

Luke Baartman was among those who waited for long, the youngster playing his first match in December, while Ethan Chislett got his debut last week, over seven months since his signing.  

That left Shinga as the only new player yet to play for Chiefs but with a number of defenders missing from their PSL clash away to Richards Bay on Tuesday, the left-back, signed from Portuguese club FC Alverce, was handed his debut.

Kaze on Shinga’s long wait for Chiefs debut

Shinga played at left-back and lasted just over 80 minutes before he was stretched off with what looked like a hamstring problem and Kaze has explained why it took eight months for the defender to finally play.

 “He’s a new player in the country, he’s a player that has not played in the PSL,” Kaze said after the match as quoted by iDiski Times.

“He needs to train well to get used to the league, to get used to his teammates too, we thought it was the right moment to introduce him.”

Amakhosi left-back suffered setback

Regarding the player’s injury, Kaze could not elaborate, saying he will need to be assessed to know the severity of the problem.

“I haven’t spoken to the medical staff, we’re going to assess him tonight and tomorrow [Wednesday] morning we’re going to see the extent of the injury,” he added.

Shinga had a mixed outing in a Chiefs shirt as his side lost 1-0 to Richards Bay who made life difficult for Amakhosi, especially on the counter-attacks.

He will hope that his problem is not so bad since he is looking for an extended spell in the team after a long period out.