When I left Vodacom Park on Sunday evening after we had defeated Bloemfontein Celtic to retain our Macufe Cup title, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction on two fronts. Firstly the result winning the game 3-1 was great for morale and secondly the result was made sweeter by the way the players performed. We played the game with a team made up mostly of players who do not usually see action and I told them I wanted to see the fire in their eyes.

They did not disappoint, as the youngsters were blazing hot and they played extremely well and it was a good strength of character. I felt that all round we played well - the guys defended with ease; we dominated in midfield and turned our possession into goals, which was what we wanted. Many people will say that I am taking too much satisfaction out of winning a friendly game - but with the intensity inside the stadium and the fact that we had not beaten them on three occasions this season - there was an added edge for us.

On Sunday we experimented a lot. I played certain players out of position or rather in places where I thought they would excel. Rene Richards was played at left back and after a few initial adaptation problems, he slotted in well and has given me a further option for first team selection on Wednesday. Cyril Nzama is back to his best, David Mathebula played on the left wing and had a good game so did the man on opposite side Lucky Mzizi.

Another player building a strong case for selection is Gert Schalkwyk - he played in the holding role between the midfield and striker and had a good game. I felt Gert attacked really well and should have perhaps also added his name to the score sheet.

On Wednesday we begin 15 days of hard work, which will see us play 5 games, our first game is against Santos. Santos are a very hard working and disciplined team and earlier in the season they drew 3-3 with Pirates after trailing 3-1 at one stage which shows the commitment this team has. We are aware of the aerial threat posed by Santos and will deal with them effectively.

Their coach Roger Da Sa has created a close knit team who look confident and are not scared for a fight, I think this fighting spirit that Santos possess will make our game with them all the more exciting. Taking into account that victory could put Santos a point behind us we will be out to get the three points and try and build a healthy gap between us and some of the chasing teams.

Looking at the table - Santos are in tenth position on the league table having ten points and we have fourteen and are third so we would like to close the gap on Sundowns and Pirates and leave the others further back.

On the injury front we have Arthur Zwane who returned from South Africa’s game with the Democratic Republic of Congo complaining of a thigh strain. He looks likely to be able to start training towards the end of next week. This means that he will in all probability miss out on Wednesday’s game as well as this Sunday’s game against Moroka Swallows. Serge Djiehoua underwent an operation for his injuries and the diagnosis at this stage is that he will be out of action for at least the next three months.

Ernst Middendorp

Kaizer Chiefs Head Coach