Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp insists he was satisfied with Amakhosi’s overall performance against Elgeco Plus in their Caf Confederation Cup win.

The Glamour Boys managed to secure a comfortable 3-0 victory over Elgeco in the first leg of their Confed Cup first round clash through a brace from Leonardo Castro and a solitary goal from Philani Zulu.

‘You had two-and-a-half days [before] a game and travelled from Nelspruit to Johannesburg and then from Johannesburg to Durban, of course a professional player should be able to handle it, but with the circumstances we are in at the moment, I think it was a very clear pragmatic structured game and in the end with the deserved three goals,’ Middendorp told SuperSport TV after the game.

‘It did look a little bit flat, not really in the right direction where you could have expected, but then you see players with the quality of Lebo, Leo Castro and Excellent. It’s fine.

‘He is not a dribbler or entertainer, he is a scorer and I think he deserves every second of support from all of us, and with a result I think we have a good base going into the next game.’

Amakhosi will be back in action next week to face the same opponents in Madagascar, and Middendorp was pleased to see Zulu last the whole 90 minutes after his limited game time this season.

‘Some of the players didn’t get a lot of game time, like Philani Zulu. I think he didn’t play for the last two months and now he has to go in for 90 minutes two games. There’s a little bit of a handicapped, same with Manyama,’ he added.

‘I took him a little bit back just to not give him this little bit of running pressure, just to be a little bit clever and handle this game, but they did very well and I’m absolutely delighted with the team.’