Kaizer Chiefs head coach Molefi Ntseki has revealed that changes will be instituted when they face Cape Town City in the MTN8 quarter-final at DHL Stadium on Sunday (15:00).
This will be necessitated as Chiefs, just like all DStv Premiership clubs, played two matches in a short space of time.
Coach Ntseki said fans should expect changes to his starting XI on Sunday in the fear of overloading or cramping the players with too many games when the season had just started.
Amakhosi started the season with a goalless draw against Chippa United last week Sunday and then lost 2-1 to Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday, with the later game having taken so much emotion and preparations due to the two teams’ rivalry.
But they will have to be wary of making too many changes as City, just like Sundowns, have started the campaign on the higher gear, winning two league matches to sit second in the league table.
“Changes have to be made because we are still managing the players, it’s very early in the season,” cautioned Ntseki.
“So we don’t want to have major muscle injuries, especially as early as now. We also make changes just to rotate players around to get them fresh and ready for the cup game on Sunday.”
When the MTN took over as the sponsor in 2008, Chiefs were the first to win it, beating Sundowns in the final on penalty shootouts in Durban.
Last season, Orlando Pirates became the MTN8 record holders, having won it four times, leading to the telecommunication company unveiling a new trophy this season.
Ntseki said this is “a motivation for all of us, for the new players, for the new technical team to look at it as an opportunity to say let’s win this one and get settled”.
Chiefs and City will be meeting for the second time in the Wafa Wafa Cup since the latter were established in 2016, and City have good recollection of knowledge as they won then.
They beat Chiefs 1-0 at the same stage when Australian international Matthew Sim scored a blinding winner at the same venue, under the same coach Eric Tinkler.
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The Mother City club then lost in the semi-final to Gavin Hunt’s Bidvest Wits 3-0, who went on to crush Sundowns 3-0 in the final.
