Nasreddine Nabi justifies why Mfundo Vilakazi is not ready to start for Kaizer Chiefs & explains Bradley Cross' sub after half-an-hour

Kaizer Chiefs played Stellenbosch on Wednesday night in the Premier Soccer League.

With the game tied 1-1, 19-year-old Mfundo Vilakazi was introduced to help bolster the attack.

The teenager provided an assist from which Wandile Duba scored the winning goal to hand the hosts maximum points.

Coach Nasreddine Nabi has since explained why he is not starting the young attacker who has an assist and a goal this season.

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

"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 his physical structure," Nabi added.

Nabi has further explained why Bradley Cross was subbed just 30 minutes into the game.

“We started well the first five minutes, we had control but we noticed that there was a little bit of confusion with the system of a back-three, which gave the opportunity to the opponent to take control of the game and to have even more possession.

“That’s why we made the tactical change by taking off the left-back and putting on a winger. It’s not easy against such a good team like Stellenbosch to come back from behind and score two. That requires character, and today we had it," Nabi concluded.

The result on Wednesday means the Glamour Boys have won five games from the 12 played this season, drawing three and losing four.

The Glamour Boys are currently placed fifth on the table with 18 points, meaning a win on Sunday against Golden Arrows might take them third depending with the outcome of teams above them.

Nabi surely hopes his team can now get positive results consistently to boost their chances of finishing inside the top four brackets by the end of the season.

The January transfer window is ongoing, and Chiefs are among the teams expected to strengthen their squad.

Nabi has insisted his priority is on attack where he intends to sign an established striker.