Kaizer Chiefs ‘managing’ Dolly and Billiat as Baxter issues injury update ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns clash

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Stuart Baxter says they are closely monitoring Keagan Dolly and Khama Billiat ahead of Sunday’s Premier Soccer League clash against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld.

Dolly, who had Baxter worried about his weight, is gradually settling in the Chiefs squad and started for the first time in their last match, a 2-1 win over Baroka FC in which he lasted 84 minutes.

Billiat on the other hand is coming from national duty with Zimbabwe as he featured for the Warriors in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Ethiopia.

The Zimbabwean scored one of Chiefs’ goals against Baroka and Amakhosi would also be hoping for Lebogang Manyama to be fully fit on Sunday.

“We got Lebo [Manyama] back into normal training. We’re managing Keagan and how much he can play, we’re managing Khama. He has played a few times for the national team, so I’m guessing he is fully integrated into the squad now,” said Baxter as per iDiski Times.

Chiefs will make the trip to Tshwane without forward Leonardo Castro who is yet to play this season due to injury and is still “way down the road” in terms of recovery, according to the coach.

Defender Siyabonga Ngezana also appears far from returning to full fitness while midfielder Dumisani Zuma has also been ruled out.

“We’ve got Leo Castro, who is still in Colombia. He can’t do any sort of rehab yet after his operation. He is totally immobilised at the moment. That one is way down the road,” Baxter said.

“We’ve Zuma, who is jogging. He is in that phase of his rehab. We’ve got Siya [Ngezana], who is doing exactly the same. He’s had a very bad one [injury] and he has reached that phase – jogging slash limping. So he is not available anytime soon. 

“Daniel [Akpeyi] is on his way back from Nigeria, but he didn’t pick up any injuries. Brandon [Petersen] had a little bit of a tweak, but he has trained this morning [Thursday]. He looked very good, we will see how he reacts tomorrow.

“You can always still pick up injuries between today and the game but at this moment this is what we’ve got.”

Chiefs and Sundowns are yet to taste defeat in the league this season with both teams recording a win and a draw so far.