Chiefs must focus on back-to-back derbies, put Gallants defeat aside: Nabi

Coach pins hope on two huge clashes against Bucs to go a long way towards rescuing miserable campaign

Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi has told his players to chin up and focus on the two upcoming Soweto derbies against Orlando Pirates, believing they represent an opportunity to rescue a poor season for Amakhosi.

Chiefs surrendered a lead to lose 2-1 to Marumo Gallants at FNB Stadium on Saturday, making it their 11th league defeat in 2024-25 and leaving them in ninth place in the Betway Premiership, as a top eight finish looks a real challenge for Nabi's team. 

Chiefs’ next game is against Pirates in the league at FNB Stadium on Saturday (3pm), before facing them again in a Nedbank Cup final clash at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on May 10.

“Sometimes you feel like some [players] are giving up. So, what I told them is there is no time to blame anyone or each other or try to regret what has happened, because the result like today [against Marumo] cannot change,” Nabi said.

“We have two very important games ahead of us that can still save our season. The derby is coming next weekend and there is the Nedbank final.

“Everyone needs to assess themselves with honesty and look at how they do in training and during games. And then we need to stick together and go into this coming week of preparation with our heads up.”

Nabi arrived ahead of this season as a much-heralded appointment along with his own technical staff, but emphasised from the beginning that the 2024-25 campaign was for rebuilding after a disastrous nine past seasons without silverware at Naturena.

Still, the campaign has been ultimately disappointing considering Chiefs have made some decent signings and the squad, even in a rebuilding phase, does not seem as bad as its league placing.

The Tunisian will hope to at the least avoid the ignominy of finishing lower than last season's worst-ever 10th place while avoiding going a decade without silverware in the Nedbank final would also buy Nabi plenty of credit for the 2025-26 season.

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