Chiefs assistant coach Youssef says they are in constant communication with absent Nabi

Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef says they are in constant communication with coach Nasreddine Nabi, who is attending to personal matters in Tunisia.

Nabi has been away from Naturena for almost two weeks after his wife was involved in an accident at home and has missed their opening two Betway Premiership matches.

In Nabi’s absence, Amakhosi started the campaign in promising fashion by beating Stellenbosch FC and Polokwane City where they scored three goals and did not concede.

They go into the third league match of the season against Richards Bay at FNB Stadium on Tuesday sitting on top of the standings on goal difference ahead of Durban City, Marumo Gallants and Sekhukhune United, who are also on six points.

“We are the technical staff. We are familiar with each other and we work together,” said Youssef. “We keep in contact every day for every training session. We discuss all the plans, we prepare for games together. Coach Nabi is not here physically but he is with us.

“We work together and we are a team. We help each other and we don’t think about who is here and who is not here.”

As they look to make it three out of three, Youssef said supporters are excited about their promising start.

“We think about our team and how we are going to attack and defend. When we play against any team, we think more about their collective quality and not individuals.

“We look at how they attack and defend with our analysts. We look at their weaknesses and strengths and we show that to the players at training to prepare them.

“That is the most important thing for us. We are one of the big teams in South Africa and if we are in the best situation we will win this game.”

Elsewhere on Tuesday, unbeaten Durban City will look to continue their good start to the season when they take on Golden Arrows in the KwaZulu-Natal derby at Chatsworth Stadium.

Sekhukhune United will be under pressure to maintain their unbeaten record when they make the trip to Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto to take on rookies Orbit College.