Things looked to be going well for Amakhosi when the Nigerian, Ibe Zito Ogbonna netted his third goal of the season at the 23rd minute. However, Santos came out smoking in the second half to win the game.

“Congratulations to Santos...I think it is important that we give credit to them for the way they played this on the day. We started well and in my opinion we should have been a couple of goals up by halftime,” he said.

“I was not happy with the way we played in the first half and I had a talk with the boys at halftime. Santos came strongly especially in the midfield, that is why we brought Jonathan Quartey to stabilise things but then they got an equaliser at the same time. It was a goal that we should not have conceded but once again you cannot crucify players,” said Ertugral who was visibly disappointed with the loss.

“These are the same players that were branded “not good enough” by the doubting Thomases but they proved that in the past few weeks what they are capable of. I still believe in my players and if we have to win the championship this season we definitely have to bounce back in this kind of situations.

“We are still on track and we remain realistic about our goals this season...we are going back to training on Monday in preparation for the game against Bay United,” he added.

Kaizer Chiefs remain on fourth position with 18 points after 11 games.