Assistant Coach Doctor Khumalo, Tefu Mashamaite and Arthur Bartman represented Kaizer Chiefs at today’s Telkom Knockout Press Conference held at the PSL Offices in Parktown.

Speaking to a full house of Media, the Kaizer Chiefs Assistant Coach Doctor Khumalo maintained that Amakhosi will not sit back under any circumstances; “We are well aware that playing the star-studded Bidvest Wits will not be an easy game. We played and beat them 3-1 at the Mbombela Stadium and I am sure that is the reason they decided to take this game to Bidvest Wits Stadium which is a compact ground. The decision to go ahead despite Chiefs raising a concern about the fixture date is not only detrimental to the players and Kaizer Chiefs; this will hurt the game of football. It is not Chiefs at stake here but football will be the loser at the end of the day. It is easy to load the players but what most people don’t realise is the amount of time the players need to recover. This matter will go a long way to hit the game when Afcon 2013 becomes a reality and the players will be tired, that is if you look at the bigger picture.”

On the issue of the fixture scheduled on an awkward date given that six Amakhosi players will not have enough rest to play in a cup game, Khumalo insisted; “We do not only have six players on National duty, we also have two of our guys playing for the Zimbabwean National Team. We will decide on the playing personnel and related tactics upon arrival of the National Team players on Thursday but in any event we will field a competitive team on any day.”

Arthur Bartman indicated that; “Brilliant Khuzwayo was given a chance to play during the past weekend. The youngster has a bright future ahead of him for as long as he can keep his feet on the ground and learn from myself and the Goalkeeper Coach Rainer Dinkelacker.”

Tefu Mashamaite who played for Bidvest Wits between 2005 and 2011 continued; “Wits will not be a walk over. I know them and I was part of them when we won the Nedbank Cup in 2010 and they know how to play cup games. This season they let go of their coach Roger De Sá and some of their players left the club. It should be an interesting game on Friday.”

Kaizer Chiefs will face BIDVest Wits on Friday the 19th of October at Bidvest Stadium. The match will kick- off at 20h15 and tickets are available at Computicket for R40.