Amakhosi squad depth satisfies Middendorp

Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp is pleased with the depth of his squad after a number of fringe players impressed in the Shell Helix Ultra Cup on Saturday.

Amakhosi defeated Gauteng rivals Mamelodi Sundowns 4-2 to claim the second edition of the tournament.

Leonardo Castro looked particularly good on the night and thrived in partnership with Khama Billiat, with the Colombian netting a hat-trick as well as providing an assist and the Zimbabwean scoring one and assisting one.

Yagan Sasman was impressive at centre-back alongside Daniel Cardoso, but the Amakhosi mentor had a special mention for Teko Sifama and Sizwe Twala. a pair of teenagers just finding their feet at the top level, 'Teko' Sifama and Sizwe Twala.

"Teko Sifama, who came in (as a second-half sub) is 16 years old – the one who nearly scored his first goal in the PSL (unofficially) – I think he can play under-17 or something, but we’ve taken him in," said Middendorp.

"Sizwe Twala is a player whom I believe, if he gets the learning process on the side of Leonardo (Castro), Khama (Billiat), Samir (Nurkovic), just to mention some names – I haven't even put Lazarous Kambole in, he will develop and probably during the season will be valuable for us.

"We had a new combination in the centre of defence, and I don’t know what's happening with Mathoho – I tried to get something from the coaches but still haven’t got it – we sent him even though he was injured.

"So, probably he will come back on Monday, whatever. So, for us, it was important to have this left-footed Yagan and Daniel in the centre to get the understanding.

"Personally, I enjoy it very much that we have this number of players with a certain quality, not only a so-called starting 11, 12 or 13, we’re developing it."

- TeamTalk Media