Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi has explained why he had to substitute his star player Gaston Sirino in their big Carling Knockout win over SuperSport United.
Nabi hammered the Gavin Hunt-coached side 4-0 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium to take the Glamour Boys to the next stage of the competition.
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They will now play host to Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarterfinals, at a date, venue and kick-off time yet to be determined.
This is according to the draw that was conducted by the Premier Soccer League on Sunday.
Sirino was voted Man of the Match by the supporters on Saturday after he scored the first goal and made an assist during the thrashing of Matsatsantsa in the Last 16.
"Sirino has indeed helped us and we thank him for that," Nabi told the media in the post-match press conference at Peter Mokaba Stadium, speaking through his translator, assistant coach Cedric Kaze.
"But today he was a player that was not at his maximum fitness because he is coming from an injury.
"He hasn't trained a lot the last few days, but he showed that he can make a difference. That's why we changed him because we were aware that he was not at his full capacity.
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"But if Sirino gets back at his full fitness, we will see more from him, and we think that younger players can learn a lot from him," he added.
Chiefs' next game is against the same opposition at the same venue, this time in the Betway Premiership, on Saturday.