Kaizer Chiefs coach clarifies Ethan Chislett continued absence | OneFootball

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Kaze on Chislett situation

Photo: Ethan Chislett

Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze has addressed Ethan Chislett's continued absence, with the player yet to make his debut since arriving as a high-profile signing during the off-season.

The 27-year-old playmaker was snapped on a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract with English League One outfit Port Vale.

Chislett only made the matchday squad on two occasions - against AmaZulu in the Betway Premiership and Stellenbosch FC in the Carling Knockout Cup first round, both in October.

When quizzed on the player's situation, Kaze revealed that Chislett suffered an injury setback in training and is not yet on the required physical condition for high intensity matches.

“I don't want to go into every player's details, but I will respond to the question. Ethan Chislett was injured few weeks ago. He was out for the last three weeks, he started training with us 10 days ago and we are building him up for the next games because his injury was a tricky one,” he said.

"But now he has been training with the team for more than a week and we hope that he will be physically fit in the next few days.

On the showdown against Egyptian giants Zamalek SC in the CAF Confederation Cup at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, the Burundian tactician says claiming the White Knights' scalp would be a perfect way to bounce back from the matchday one disappointment.

“It's true that we didn't start as well as we would have loved to, but we still have five games to play and regarding the performance we had last week, even though we lost the game - we thought that we were at some point good at what we wanted to do,” Kaze added.

"We are very confident for tomorrow's game. It's those kinds of games where everyone wants to play against big teams like Zamalek, it's a big team in Africa, it's a very good way to redeem ourselves from last week.

"The players are looking forward to the battle tomorrow and everyone is excited because it's in those kinds of games we show how Kaizer Chiefs wants to be and what Kaizer Chiefs wants to achieve by playing against big teams like Zamalek.