Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Cedric Kaze views their league clash against wounded reigning champions Mamelodi Sundowns as a perfect chance for Amakhosi to gauge their progress so far this season.
Chiefs, who won their three opening league fixtures against Stellenbosch, Polokwane City and Richards Bay, host Sundowns at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday (7.30pm).
The Brazilians head into this fixture licking their wounds after Orlando Pirates elbowed them out of the MTN8 in the semifinals over the weekend.
“Sundowns are always a good opponent to see the progress we have made.
“We want to play these kinds of games to see where we are at,” Kaze told a media conference at Chiefs’ Naturena base on Monday.
Chiefs did not make head coach Nasreddine Nabi available to meet the media.
He missed their first three games this season after having to rush home to Tunisia, on the eve of their opener against Stellies three weeks ago, to be with his wife, who was involved in an accident.
Not making Nabi available for media interviews was possibly aimed at shielding him from pressure after the team performed well in his absence.
Kaze insisted their approach and team selection would not change now that Nabi was back.
“The approach is always the same. It’s true that the coach is here, but the selection doesn’t change now that he is physically here. We talked every day when he was away,” the assistant coach said.
Kaze said new striker Godspower Ighodaro would not be available on Wednesday, also expressing doubts that defender Aden McCarthy, left-backs Bradley Cross and another newcomer, Nkanyiso Shinga, who is yet to feature this term, would appear.
“Aden hasn’t trained since that day [he was injured] ... the medical staff are working hard to put him back on the field, but we’ll have to wait and see how he does tomorrow to decide whether he will be part of the game or not,” he said.
“We also have Shinga and Cross, who have been sick for the past two days, as well as Ighodaro, who was injured at training two days ago.”
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