Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi has lauded the impact of new signings Tashreeq Morris, Glody Lilepo and Thabo Cele who started their first match for the club on Tuesday.
The three were named in the starting XI as Chiefs took on AmaZulu, in a game that ended 2-2, with Morris playing a key part in the opening goal while Lilepo contributed to the second one.
The three were a handful for AmaZulu although they did not utilise the numerous opportunities the team created but Nabi is thrilled that he has them on board while rueing his side’s wistfulness in a match they should have easily won.
Chiefs coach rues missed opportunities
“It is a game that we deserved to win with more of the opportunities that we got although the opponent also had some opportunities but we had a lot of opportunities to win it,” Nabi told SuperSport TV after the match.
The tactician then explained how he was forced to make changes at halftime, bringing in Sibongiseni Mthethwa for Mduduzi Shabalala, after AmaZulu had an easy time bypassing their midfield.
“In the first half, we felt we were a little bit unbalanced especially defensively, and our defence was not protected enough,” he added.
“We tried to correct that by bringing Ox [Mthethwa] in the second half and felt that we were in a better place in the second half and even in the last five minutes, we missed two opportunities and we had lots of opportunities to win the game,” he added.
What does Nabi make of new signings?
Nabi says the three new players will come good with time after getting more training sessions with the rest of the team as they experienced some tiredness on Tuesday.
“We are happy with Tashreeq, Lilepo and Thabo Cele, the two goals that we scored one from Tahsreeq the second one on Lilepo and even Thabo Cele before he got a little bit tired,” said Nabi.
“He [Cele] brings fluidity in the midfield a lot of smartness and freshness but unfortunately, they were a little bit tired in the second half and we felt if they had more preparation, they would have helped but we feel the three signs are good and are going to help the team a lot.”
Chiefs have now gone two games without winning and have a tricky match away to Stellenbosch FC on Friday.
