Da Cruz refuses to concede Chiefs’ title hopes despite Soweto Derby setback

The Glamour Boys suffered a 2-1 defeat to bitter rivals Orlando Pirates in a pulsating Soweto Derby at FNB Stadium on Saturday, with the Buccaneers claiming all three points to strengthen their position in the title race.

Da Cruz acknowledged that losing to direct rivals was a significant setback but believes the coming weeks will provide a clearer picture of Chiefs’ remaining title prospects.

"I will say that it is more difficult today after this game but the PSL is a long journey so there is 21 fixtures remaining but when we recover our injured players, because we have been unlucky since the start of the season, we will have more consistency in our performance because we had a lot of draws this season but we deserved to win this game but because of our lack of expereince we didn't win this game but it will turn in our favour when we recover our full squad," said da Cruz

READ: Orlando Pirates coach reveals near-costly tactical gamble in Soweto Derby

Da Cruz was pressed on how he plans to improve Chiefs when he continues to raise the same concerns after every bad result. 

"It's a good question – we must use these types of games to grow players and to reach the next steps. The players must understand that even though we play well, it's not enough – we must reach the next steps now. So, we must continue to work, but it takes time. We can't achieve this overnight – we can't gain experience from one day to the next. We must continue to learn from competitions of different levels."

The Frenchman added that despite a youthful squad that is learning on the job, he was proud in how Chiefs dominated Pirates in the first half. 

The Chiefs mentor took issue with the winning goal scored by winger Tshepang Moremi, arguing that from where he was sitting it was offside.