Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi was left impressed with experienced and versatile defender Edmilson Dove despite the 1-0 loss against Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium.
The Mozambique international has been out of action since July when the Glamour Boys were in pre-season in Turkey.
The 31-year-old has worked his way to the starting team and was granted a chance on Saturday after the struggles of Bradley Cross and Happy Mashiane's fitness concerns. It was the first time Dove was making a competitive appearance this season.
Coach Nabi is optimistic the left-back will give him the best in defense after lasting the entire game against the defending champions.
‘Dove can give Chiefs a good balance'
“I have to congratulate Dove because it's not easy to get into this kind of game and play 90 minutes with the intensity that the game had, after seven months of injury,” the former AS FAR Rabat coach stated.
“It requires a lot of mental strength and a player with big character, defensively he gave us very good balance and offensively you cannot ask everything of him in one day, but he managed to finish the 90 minutes.
“He's also a player who, even though he hasn't played a lot, since December has been training consistently with his teammates and saw that today it paid off,” Dove is expected to start against Magesi FC on Tuesday at the FNB Stadium.
In the initial meeting, the Glamour Boys had to come from a goal down to force a 2-2 draw, and Nabi, alongside the players, will not want to repeat their mistakes again, against Dikwena Tsa Meetse.
