Nabi cautions fans to not get 'over-excited' over win as Chiefs rebuild

Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi has insisted that Wednesday's come-from-behind 2-1 win over Stellenbosch at FNB Stadium doesn't mean they've arrived, saying there's still a lot of work to be done as they were still in a rebuilding stage.

Khomotjo Lekoloane put Stellenbosch ahead in the 20th minute before Wandile Duba levelled matters eight minutes later. Duba netted his second of the night, ensuring Chiefs bag their fifth league win of the season in the 57th minute. Chiefs have since switched their attention to their next game against Golden Arrows at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday (3.30pm).

“My mission here [at Chiefs] is to build a good team and in this process, we can lose, we can win like today but we have to be realistic and [not] get over-excited because we won. We still have a lot of work to do,'' Nabi said.

Nabi understands the frustration of their fans whenever they struggle to get results but suspects other people are not Chiefs fans who always criticise the club.

“We believe that our supporters have the right to be frustrated when the results are not there but we have to understand that sometimes it's other people who push the agenda as they don't want the club to succeed,'' said the Chiefs mentor.

The Tunisian also explained why talented playmaker Mfundo Vilakazi hardly starts games, having started only one of the 11 games he's played this season. Against Stellies, Vilakazi came off the bench in the 60th minute and assisted Duba for the winning goal.

“Mfundo Vilakazi is a talent from the academy of the club. He’s only 19 years old, so I would say even his physical development is not yet 100%, which means that we need to protect the player,” Nabi said.

“We need to give him time that will allow him to showcase himself and we believe that he doesn’t yet have the consistency of playing 90 minutes in successive games without time to recover. We feel that these minutes he’s getting are going to build his confidence, momentum and as well as the physical structure.”

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