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Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi says pre-season matches are just for preparation, and results don’t matter.
He was responding to questions after yesterday’s loss on penalties in the Toyota Cup friendly match against Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
Chiefs have won only one of their six pre-season matches, including the recent trip to Holland.
But ahead of their first game in the new season against Stellenbosch FC, Nabi sees no need to read too much into this.
"We are in pre-season, and the objectives of this pre-season are detailed and pre-determined.
"The objective of this game is not the result, I understand why you are asking the question, but the objective of this friendly was not the result on the scoreboard," explained the Amakhosi boss.
Another area of concern from these matches is the lack of goals, with only three goals scored in all six games played.
But once again, the Tunisian-Belgian coach feels that the scrutiny is unjustified.
"In Holland, we weren't given much time between the games, and we also played against four clubs from that country's premier division.
"This is pre-season, so we are still finding our way and preparing for the season, and results after 90 minutes do not matter for now."
Nabi has now managed to see most of his players in friendly matches before the new season, and he feels that the team has improved, especially in terms of quality, but there’s still room for improvement.
"This is the second Toyota Cup we have participated in, and compared to last year's match against Young Africans, our team has improved a lot.
"There may be a few areas of weakness and where we need to work on, but there has been progress.
"Of course, we would have loved to win this friendly, but I believe we are heading in the right direction."
This was the second edition of this pre-season match, which pits Chiefs against clubs from other parts of the continent and also helps them as they will return to CAF inter-club competitions this season.
Newly appointed captain Inacio Miguel could’ve won the game for Chiefs just before the penalty shootout, but he missed a penalty after Pule Mmodi was brought down inside the box.
Result aside, Nabi says they met their objectives for this game.
