Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane says there were a lot of good signs from his team despite their opening-day defeat by Royal AM, but stresses they need to be patient as they adapt to his style of play.

The 1-0 loss to Royal AM may have been disappointing but there were positive signs for the Glamour Boys. They will be looking to build on those positives when they face Martizburg United in their second game of the season on Tuesday evening.

Speaking ahead of the game, Zwane told the Amakhosi website that there is still a lot of work to be done.

“We are still far from where we need to be in terms of fitness and preparations. These things take time and we need to be patient as we don’t want to confuse the players,” Zwane said pre-game.

“What I saw on Saturday gives me a lot of hope because there are good signs in terms of understanding from the guys and how they applied themselves,” Zwane added.

“The new guys did well. Wearing a Chiefs jersey and playing in a stadium that’s packed to capacity isn’t easy. Siyethemba Sithebe did well considering he’s been out for some time. We need players who can dig deeper. Yusuf Maart is a special talent, Zitha Kwinika was solid at the back and Dillan Solomons came on in the second half and was impressive. We still need to work on the guys on combination play,” he commented on the new troops.

“Du Preez had a good game, it’s a pity he couldn’t take the chances, but we are happy he got into those goalscoring positions. It’s important if you are a striker for the defenders to feel your presence and that’s what we got,” said Zwane.

On the game against Maritzburg, Zwane said they are looking for their opponents’ weak spots under new boss John Maduka.

“We are playing a team that’s looking at rebuilding and we know they want to do well. They have a new coach and we will see how they approach the game. We watched their match on Saturday, but will analyse further before we play them so we can see where the loopholes are,” concluded Zwane.