Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Arthur Zwane had no complaints about the effort and commitment from Amakhosi’s players after their “unfortunate” loss on the road against Royal AM in the DStv Premiership.

“We exerted ourselves very well. We were just unfortunate not to get at least a point from this game. It happened and it happened for a reason that we couldn’t get a point or maximum points. But that’s football sometimes, you win some, you lose some. But I cannot fault the players’ effort. They gave their best, they gave their all,” Zwane said after the 1-0 reverse at the Chatsworth Stadium.

A soft first half Victor Letsoalo penalty sealed the game and Zwane says not for a lack of trying Amakhosi unfortunately could not get the goals their effort on the day warranted.

Zwane says Amakhosi were not as clinical as they could have been against Royal AM in the final third, in terms of breaking the lines, coming in short, or getting the cut backs that have seen them being sharp in front of goal this season.

“I believe we could have done better. The fact that they added defenders to defend the goal meant they were feeling the pressure. That’s good from our boys, that you don’t give up. We never created enough chances to score goals, but we showed that eagerness, that hunger to get a goal. We were just unfortunate. Had we scored one or two from the chances that we created in the first half it could have been a different story. A 1-1 draw would have been a fair result to build the confidence of the boys, but we did our best. We were just unfortunate not to get a draw or maximum points” says Zwane.

The COVID enforced break which saw a number of players sidelined undoubtedly had an impact on Chiefs’ fluency and sharpness, but Zwane was not making any excuses for the defeat and was now looking ahead to the game against Maritzburg United on Wednesday.

“Leo (Castro) and Lebo (Manyama) were losing energy and couldn’t cover the distances, which is what we expected. Dolly played 90 minutes, but you could see that rustiness in Keagan and Khama (Billiat). It is a matter of managing the players. But it’s a good build up to the next game,” concluded Zwane.