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Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE international Kingston Nkhatha has once again received plaudits from ABSA Premiership coaches Stuart Baxter and Gordon Igesund with his former club Kaizer Chiefs gaffer revealing they might change their style in order to adjust to the gap he left. Nkhatha left Chiefs when the South African mid-season transfer window opened with the hardworking striker joining SuperSport United on a three-year deal.

He reminded Chiefs of what they will miss of him on Wednesday night when he played a key role in SuperSport United’s 2-0 victory over Amakhosi in a league match in Pretoria.

It was Chiefs’ first league defeat of the season as the Soweto giants had gone for 19 matches without a loss.

Nkhatha’s departure from Chiefs still continues to stir debate among the Amakhosi fans who had been divided between the boo boys who never seemed to appreciate him and those who recognised the player’s contribution to the Soweto giants’ title aspirations.

“Kingston is an honest player who will give everything every time you field him,” said Igesund.

“He is not worried about going out there and doing all these fancy things on the ball. He is not going out to play for Kingston Nkhatha but rather to play for his team, his club and his teammates.

“When someone makes a mistake he will go and tackle and always be ready to track back.

“I like players who are not self-centred.”

Igesund, who had also previously coached Nkhatha at Free State Stars, said he was in no doubt about the player’s qualities.

“We know that he is a quality player and I know that just as much as he will miss goals he will also score a lot of goals for us.

“Players are not machines. He will get our support in the same way that Stuart Baxter supported him. I would like him to be the box player because that is where his strengths are,’’ Igesund said.

Baxter revealed that he may be forced to change their playing style as they adjust to life without the Zimbabwean international.

“I support all the players and I didn’t give Kingston anything that I didn’t give others. I pitched up for Kingston when he needed support. With the other players I give help and advice in different ways.

‘‘Kingston was a high-profile case because he was in a strange situation with the supporters behaving badly — in that situation I would defend any of our players.

“Kingston leaving the club is a different issue. If a player signs with another club it is a different issue because then it is about his future, his contract negotiations and that I don’t have a lot of control over.

“I always work on the assumption that any of our players could be injured so no player should be so important to you that I cannot replace him. Do we have a player that is the same league as Kingston? No we don’t. Can we tick a little bit?

“Can Bernard (Parker) play nine? Can someone step up to the plate? Do we change the shape and play with two or three strikers?

“All of the above is possible, but we will have to get a couple of games under our belt first then see what needs to be done,’’ Baxter said.

Nkhatha also revealed that Baxter had been disappointed that the striker had gone on to sign for SuperSport without consulting him.

“At first he was angry with me and I know why he was livid with me . . . it was because I never consulted him about what was happening. I then had a chat with him after everything had happened, we sat down and I apologised for not coming to tell him what was happening.

“He told me that if it was happening to him he would have also chosen where his future is.

“I will miss everything (at Chiefs) from the players to the technical staff . . . we did extraordinary things at Chiefs.

“We had a smaller squad and you would ask ‘if this one player goes out who would replace him?’ Yet most of the people who came in did good things and gelled in well. The team spirit was great. It is something I will miss,’’ Nkhatha said.