Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi explained his decision to start Edson Castillo ahead of club captain Yusuf Maart in the match against SuperSport United.
Nabi was speaking after Amakhosi suffered their second Betway Premiership defeat of the season, a 1-0 loss to SuperSport United at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday evening.
Their first defeat came in their previous league match against Mamelodi Sundowns in September.
Maart, who’s been a regular starter this season, was left out of the starting line-up against the Swanky Boys. However, he was brought on in the 23rd minute to replace the injured Castillo.
Nabi says they felt the Venezuelan midfielder deserved to be rewarded with a start having performed well against Sundowns and when he came on from the bench against SuperSport in Carling Knockout.
NASREDDINE NABI EXPLAINS DECISION TO START EDSON CASTILLO INSTEAD OF MAART
“We believe that Yusuf Maart has been playing since the beginning of the league and the cup games,” said Nabi.
“We thought that today was a good game to make him rest and to give Castillo a chance to start because against Sundowns he was good and the 20 minutes that he played in the last game he played against SuperSport was good.
We wanted to give him that continuity.”
Nabi also added that Njabulo Blom has not been starting games due to fitness concerns.
However, the Tunisian coach believes that Blom will be of help to the team because of his experience.
“About Blom, it’s a matter of fitness conditions, which has been improving since he arrived,” he added.
“You can even see that he’s starting to pick up.
“He’s a player that we believe can help because of his experience and everything.”
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