Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp is irritated by the media’s focus on the players in his side who were close to suspension ahead of their upcoming clash with Mamelodi Sundowns.

In the buildup to Sunday evenings clash with Stellenbosch FC, which preceded the mammoth tie against Sundowns this Thursday, much of the talk surrounded the five Chiefs players just one booking away from their sixth of the season, which would lead to suspension and them missing the clash with the Brazilians.

Middendorp tried to pre-empt this by placing star striker Samir Nurkovic on the bench to try to protect the Serbian. However, an injury to Leonardo Castro curtailed the German’s plans as Nurkovic was brought on in the first half and ended up being booked late on. He has now been ruled out for Thursday’s potential title decider at the Orlando Stadium.

‘I was quite impressed switching on the TV on [Sunday] morning and seeing on SuperSport and the news, that the main focus was talking about how many players Kaizer Chiefs have on [three] yellow cards,’ bemoaned Middendorp.

‘So, I don’t know actually, is it by accident or is it just that I never noticed it before being so highlighted that it was the issue of the entire news from the morning until the evening.

‘Now, OK, what happened? Samir Nurkovic, after a simple, easy one-against-one [with Lee Langeveldt] ends up getting a yellow card in the final two minutes.

‘It’s a bit of a – I don’t know, is it by accident or is it something that can happen? Anyway, we take it, we have to deal with it but it’s irritating when you see this process starting in the morning where it gets discussed.’