Baxter blames inactivity for torrid run as Kaizer Chiefs remain winless in 2022

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Stuart Baxter believes his sides inactivity due to the lengthy domestic festive break is one of the reasons his charges remain winless in 2022.

Amakhosi, along with the rest of the Premier Soccer League, took a month-long break due to the African Cup of Nations.

Chiefs returned to action last weekend in a Nedbank Cup clash against TS Galaxy but were knocked out by the Kameelrivier outfit, adding another early tournament exit for the Soweto giants in the 2021/22 campaign.

On Tuesday, Chiefs resumed their DStv Premiership season with a dull goalless draw against Cape Town City.

Chiefs moved to third place on the Premiership standings with 29 points from 17 games.

Baxter's charges remain one point behind second-placed Orlando Pirates but are lagging 19 points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

After the encounter, Baxter admitted that the long break had affected his charges.

"The mixture of not playing for a while [played a role] and [that] some of them had not played a game 48 hours prior," Baxter told the club's media department.

"Some of them were in camp here in Cape Town with the club, while some of them played in the Compact Cup. Players are still really recovering from that.

"Some of them have played four games, and some of them have played 15 minutes. So, it is a difficult one to set up, but I thought most of them ran out of the game (against Cape Town City) well.

"We will miss a week but play a friendly game against SuperSport, and hopefully we get everybody up to speed and then have a go for the rest of the season," said Baxter.

Chiefs will now have to wait until Saturday, 26 February, for their next match, against relegation-threatened Baroka FC.