Head Coach, Donald ‘Ace’ Khuse paid a tribute to Steve Kompela and Free State Stars following a 1-0 defeat at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Glamour Boys playing under the tutelage of Kaizer Chiefs legend for the first time since the departure of Vladimir Vermezovic were knocked out of the Nedbank Cup by a determined Free State Stars.

“We lost to a better team. I would like to congratulate Steve Kompela and Free State Stars for the win this evening. They made our life difficult and never allowed us to play our normal game. I think now that they have beaten us they can go and win the cup,” said Khuse.

Reflecting on the loss the Randfontein born Coach said; “We came here fully prepared and we knew what Stars are capable of but things did not work out for us. The boys are very disappointed but we need to continue believing in them. Yes we did not play well and we will need to put a better performance against Maritzburg United on Tuesday.

“We turning our focus to the league now and we need to return back to our winning ways when we host Maritzburg United. We will welcome couple of guys back who sat out against Stars due to suspension. This should give us lot of options come Tuesday,” added Khuse.

Trio, Bernard Parker, Dominic Isaacs and Keegan Ritchie will all be available for selection against Maritzburg after serving one match suspension.

Meanwhile Steve Kompela defended his counterpart; “No coach can turn things around in 48 hours. I have no doubt that both Doctor (Khumalo) and Ace (Khuse) will do the job for Chiefs. Stars have always made it very difficult for teams to play their normal game and it would not be fair for people to point fingers on Ace following the defeat. I would like to congratulate the two gentleman and wish them all the best for the future,”