Da Cruz Reveals Why He Still Believes Chiefs Can Fight Back in the Title Race

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando da Cruz has called on his players to remain positive as they continue their fight in the Betway Premiership title race, despite finding themselves 12 points behind league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Glamour Boys have experienced an inconsistent campaign, with several dropped points making it difficult for them to keep up with their rivals. Although Chiefs have managed to produce some good performances, a number of draws have proved costly as they attempt to challenge for the league title.

Following their latest setback on Saturday, Da Cruz admitted that the situation has become more difficult. However, the French coach believes his team still has an opportunity to improve its position because there are 21 league fixtures remaining.

One of the biggest concerns for Chiefs has been their injury situation. Da Cruz believes the absence of several players has affected the team’s ability to maintain consistent performances throughout the campaign.

The coach is hopeful that the return of injured players will help the team become stronger and give them a better chance of putting together a good run of results. He also believes that having more options available will improve the consistency of their performances.

Speaking about the situation, Da Cruz explained that the number of draws has been a major problem for his side this season. He feels that Chiefs could have collected more victories from some of those matches, but injuries and a lack of experience have made it difficult for them to get the results they wanted.

“It’s more difficult today [Saturday] after this game, but the PSL is a long journey, there are 21 fixtures remaining. When we recover our injured players, where we have been unlucky since the beginning of the season, we will have more consistency in our performances, because we made a lot of draws this season,” Da Cruz said.

The Chiefs coach also admitted that his players have sometimes failed to turn good performances into victories because of their lack of experience. He believes the team must learn from those situations and become more effective when opportunities to win matches come their way.

Da Cruz is now hoping that the return of injured players will help change the team’s fortunes. However, he knows that recovering ground in the title race will require more than just having a full squad. Chiefs must also find a way to win several matches in a row.

“Normally, many draws, we deserved to win these games but because of our lack of experience, we didn’t win these games. But we will turn it on our side when we recover our squad and for sure, in one moment we must have some positive dynamic with a few wins in a row to continue this journey. We must keep a positive mindset,” he added.

With Pirates setting the pace at the top of the standings and Sundowns 12 points ahead of Chiefs, the pressure is growing on the Soweto giants. They cannot afford many more dropped points if they want to close the gap.

Despite the difficult position, Da Cruz is encouraging his players to stay focused, remain positive and use the remaining 21 fixtures to fight their way back into the title race.

Thaboalpheus21 feedback-opera-news-app@opera.com