Kaizer Chiefs co-head coach Khalil Ben Youssef believes it is a much-improved Amakhosi that will go up against Orlando Pirates in the second Betway Premiership Soweto derby of the season at FNB Stadium on Sunday.
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Pirates hammered Chiefs 3-0 at FNB Stadium in the first round on February 28, at the end of a woeful month for Amakhosi, that also saw them knocked out of the Nedbank Cup and Caf Confederation Cup.
Chiefs bounce back
At that stage it seemed like Ben Youssef and his co-coach Cedric Kaze might not survive the season at Naturena. After losing their next match against Richards Bay, however, Chiefs bounced back to win five games on the spin, and are now in pole position to finish third in the table and qualify for next season’s Caf Confederation Cup.
“In the first game (against Pirates) we were in a bad moment. Now there is a big difference,” said Ben Youssef.
“The team has performed very well in the last six games with five wins and one draw. On the day of the derby the team that makes the least mistakes and is more hungry will win the game.”
Ben Youssef believes a relatively injury-free squad has contributed to Chiefs’ resurgence.
“In that moment (in February) we were a bit unlucky, we had a lot of injuries. It is difficult as a coach when you have a lot of injuries. You have to make a lot of changes and you don’t have the consistency.
“In the last five or six games we have had the same squad and the same team. When the consistency is there the performances are there and the results are there.
“We were also unlucky in the first round (in general) in that we missed out on a lot of points. We put in good performances but we were unlucky and didn’t score.”
Chiefs did score 12 times in their five consecutive wins, though their most recent fixture saw a rather dull goalless draw at Polokwane City.
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Wandile Duba, Mduduzi Shabalala, Glody Lilepo and Flavio Silva have all found some form of late and will hope that continues against the Buccaneers.
Chiefs are 12 points behind Pirates in the table and 11 behind Sundowns, but should be able to hold onto third place – they currently have a seven point lead over fourth-placed AmaZulu.
“We don’t have fans, we have family,” added Ben Youssef.
“This is a moment to give them back some joy and hope. We hope they enjoy the game, the performance and the result.
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“The most important thing is to give back to the fans and make them proud and continue to fight to finish in the best position we can this season.”
