Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze has pointed to a lengthy injury list
as the primary reason for the team’s struggle to score goals, despite the
club starting 2026 with four consecutive wins.
While Amakhosi have secured four straight victories across all competitions
this year, each win has been by a narrow 1-0 margin, highlighting a lack of
attacking ruthlessness.
Addressing the media ahead of the Nedbank Cup, Kaze explained that the
absence of key forwards disrupted their offensive rhythm, but he expects
improvement as players return.
“The lack of goals, I will put in context,” Kaze stated. “When we started
both the first and second phases of the league, we had so many injuries to
important offensive players like Glody Lilepo and Gastón Sirino. When one of
your best attacking players is injured, you take a drop. But I’m pretty sure
that as games progress, we will get better.”
Kaze emphasised that the returning players will bring much-needed quality
and depth. “We know we will get better because now we have players coming
back from injury: George Matlou, Thabo Cele, ‘Ox’ [Njabulo Mthethwa],
Bradley Cross. All those players will bring the quality we need. Sometimes
you can’t rotate effectively when options are limited.”
He also provided an update on striker Etiosa Ighodaro, who remains
sidelined. “Even Etiosa is injured too, but we expect him back probably in
the next two weeks. Sometimes you can’t rotate your offensive players
because you don’t have many choices, but we expect to do better in the
coming weeks once all the injured players return.”
Chiefs will next face Stellenbosch FC in the Nedbank Cup round of 32 at DHL
Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday evening, offering another opportunity to
build momentum and firepower upfront.
