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Nabi urges Chiefs to take their chances against Magesi

rugby29 October 2024 10:30| © Backpage TXT
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Nasreddine Nabi © Backpage Pix

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi insists his team needs to learn how to control games as he looks to bounce back against Magesi at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Wednesday, October 30.

Kick-off is at 7.30pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

Current form:

Nabi has now lost back-to-back games in the Betway Premiership after his tenure began on a positive note with successive wins against Marumo Gallants and AmaZulu.

Amakhosi's perfect start came to an end at the hands of Mamelodi Sundowns on September 28 and they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to SuperSport United on October 26.

The Glamour Boys are one point outside the top eight in ninth position with two games in hand on Matsatsantsa (8th), whom they thrashed 4-0 in the Carling Knockout seven days earlier.

Nabi admitted Chiefs were made to pay for not taking the numerous chances they created against the Tshwane giants and has urged his players to learn from the experience.

Magesi are becoming a tough team to beat after they held Cape Town City to a 0-0 draw on October 27, having also played out to the same scoreline against Royal AM in their previous fixture one month earlier.

Dikwena tsa Meetse have now kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league to open up a four-point gap to the danger zone in 13th position.

Clinton Larsen believes the key to their survival will be the defence and he is pleased with the start made by the Motsepe Foundation Championship winners.

What was said:

Magesi head coach Clinton Larsen

"Our defensive shape has been improving game by game. It's something that we're going to have to survive on this season, without the quality other teams do have.

"Our organisation and fighting spirit is going to have to carry us through a lot of games. And I think that was clear to see today. The boys really, really stuck to their task.

"That is our fifth point in five games, and we've got 25 more points to fight for to reach our target as a club, and then we'll take it from there."

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi

"We believe that we could have easily killed the game [off] in the first half because we had the control in the first 15 or 20 minutes, but we were too much relaxed.

"We had easy chances that we could have scored. Sometimes we played like we were going to score anytime but needed to score to win the game.

"It's a tough loss to swallow but we want this game to be a learning curve for our young players. Because we can't let those kinds of things happen in the future, if you have control of the game and create chances, you need to score."

Players to watch:

Magesi - Elvis Chipezeze played a crucial role in Dikwena tsa Meetse's successful promotion challenge and he's already made an impact in the Betway Premiership, keeping three straight clean sheets after sitting on the bench for their opening two games of the season, which saw Larsen's side concede three goals.

Kaizer Chiefs - Mfundo Vilakazi looked bright when he came on in the second half against SuperSport and came closest to equalising in the 88th minute when he forced Thakasani Mbanjwa into an excellent save with a strike from range. The 18-year-old attacking midfielder has yet to start a game in the Betway Premiership, but he'll be knocking on the door now.

Head-to-Head: N/A

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