Fernando da Cruz unfazed by Kaizer Chiefs injury woes

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando da Cruz is unfazed by the growing injury list at Naturena, with several players yet to make the matchday squad this season due to injuries.

The Glamour Boys commenced the 2026/27 campaign without the services of Khanyisa Mayo, Paseka Mako, Kabelo Nkgwesa, Bradley Cross, and Mduduzi Shabalala, who has since returned to action.

Furthermore, centre-half Rushwin Dortley is still nursing a long-term injury but is on the verge of full fitness, while marquee signing Langelihle Phili recently suffered an ankle injury that will rule him out for eight weeks.

Da Cruz, however, says he is not worried about the injury list, expressing belief and trust in the players available for selection, as the medical team continues to work around the clock with the injured contingent.

“There are two types of injuries, like the ones players had last season, so it takes time for us to recover these players at 100%. And there are injuries that happened this season as well,” said the Chiefs boss.

"But our medical staff did a very good job and they're trying to do their best to recover the players as soon as possible. But when we have injured players we trust in our squad, so I'm not worried about that.

Having settled for back-to-back draws in their last two Betway Premiership outings, the Frenchman rues the dropped points as they look to keep pace with the upper echelons of the log standings.

“We always want to win when we play games, so normally we expect to have 12 points and on the two draws we lost four points because we should have won the games against Mamelodi Sundowns and Richards Bay,” da Cruz added.

Chiefs will swing back to action with a Betway Premiership clash against Siwelele FC at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday, 06 September, in a bid to improve on their third place standing.

Hlayisani Magoro

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Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.

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