Amakhosi coach Vladimir Vermezovic gave his team the day off on Monday as they recover from their bruising Soweto derby encounter this past weekend against Orlando Pirates, as they lift themselves up for what will be another tricky Absa Premiership clash this coming weekend in Bloemfontein against Celtic.

Talking to kaizerchiefs.com Vermezovic while reflecting back on the derby success said, “it was a tough game for us, it was also essential for us to defeat Pirates and there were many psychological hurdles the victory has helped us leap over.”

For the Chiefs coach getting back to winning ways was all that mattered as he explained, “coming into the game with two successive defeats was always going to be a tough assignment for us in the derby, a lot of credit must go to my team and the players for playing a good game and for getting a positive result.

Not just in this last game but in all of our matches to this point in the season, We have not at any point underestimated any opponent we respected them all and we did what we needed to do to come through some challenging encounters.”

The Chiefs coach in addition to winning the game against Pirates is also fortunate as two of his players who were injured in the fixture, midfielder Lucky Baloyi and defender Dominic Isaacs could both be fit to face Celtic on Saturday evening.

“I got a report back from the doctors on Monday morning on both Dominic and Lucky and none of their injuries are serious, they have only been requested to rest for a few days.

I am a very fortunate coach as they have already told me that they want to get back to training, we will give them the chance to fully recover.”

The victory over Pirates was also Chiefs first home league win against the Buccaneers in more than three years, while Vermezovic is pleased that they have managed to turn the page on those stats he is now looking ahead to the challenge of Bloemfontein Celtic.

“As I mentioned gaining this victory was vital for us as it came at a time when we were looking to assert ourselves in the league, right now and for the next few days we need to look at Bloemfontein Celtic.

They might have a mini crisis in terms of their results at the moment, two losses in succession. We know the quality of players they possess and the coach is an intelligent tactician, who always ensures that they are very well prepared for every game, playing in Bloemfontein is never easy we need to ensure that we are well prepared for the game.”

So after their victory against Pirates Chiefs are top of the table and have made their best start to a PSL season under Vermezovic’s reign, despite this the Amakhosi mentor will not allow for complacency to creep into his ranks.

“At the moment it is very tight at the top we are only one point ahead of SuperSport United, getting to the top of the table was crucial staying there is equally important for us.”