‘We will make Chiefs fight’

Having given Kaizer Chiefs as good as they got in a cup game recently, Black Leopards coach Joel Masutha (below) is positive his team can again put up a fight when they meet Amakhosi in an Absa Premiership match at the FNB Stadium this evening.

Lidoda Duvha lost on penalties against the same opponents just over two weeks ago and Masutha said his players had learnt their lesson.

“The performance in the cup game showed the boys that they can go toe-to-toe with anyone in this league and it has boosted their confidence and they will want to give a similar, if not better performance,” he said.

Chiefs were missing some key players for the first match with Khama Billiat, Dumisani Zuma and Leonardo Castro out with injuries. They will likely be in the starting team this time but that doesn’t worry Masutha.

“We know they might have a changed team to the one we played earlier but we are also aware of their weaknesses and have worked on them. We have our own game plan and we will not worry too much about who they field,” said Masutha.

Amakhosi’s Premiership campaign is not going as well as they would have liked and coach Giovanni Solinas has already stressed the importance of improving their league position.

But it is not a dissimilar situation for Leopards who have managed just nine points in nine games but Masutha said they are not panicking. He feels his team are now starting to gel and it is a matter of time before they start getting the results.

“We are now creating chances. We know Chiefs will have their chances as well but what will make the difference is who buries theirs,” he said.

For that Masutha will depend on Mwape Musonda who has shown some promise but tends to overdo things at times.