Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp believes Amakhosi would have finished high in the Absa Premiership if they had Itumeleng Khune between the sticks during the 2018-19 season.

The Glamour Boys failed to secure a top-eight finish in the league after ending in ninth place last campaign with a total of 39 points – from nine wins, 12 stalemates and nine defeats in the league.

Namibian keeper Virgil Vries made crucial errors which cost them valuable points against the likes of Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City. Looking back at their results from last season, Mosimane still can’t believe how they lost vital games.

‘We lost against Sundowns, but in a way where I thought, “Man, how can we lose this game?” We played against Pirates and I don’t know how we got a 1-1 result,’ Middendorp told the media.

‘We played against Cape Town City and it should have been 5-0 at half time in our favour, then cracking in the last second with an individual mistake – and we’ve seen a lot of individual mistakes.’

With the likes of Vries and Daniel Akpeyi failing to step up in the absence of Khune, Middendorp believes that Khune was the missing link for Amakhosi last season.

‘I must make it clear, we have the best in the goalkeeper in the country. With Itu Khune, at the time, inside the goal, it would have been a totally different story … at that time we threw away seven to eight points,’ he concluded.