Keagan Dolly is nearing his first start in a first Kaizer Chiefs shirt since completing a high-profile move to Naturena last month according to head coach Stuart Baxter.
On Saturday, Dolly made his second consecutive appearance from the bench for Chiefs as Amakhosi opened their DStv Premiership campaign with a goalless draw away to TS Galaxy.
As a result of his fitness issues, Dolly is yet to start a game for Baxter’s side but has shown glimpses of his ability in both appearances, and it appears only a matter of time before he makes his first run-out.
“Very close, I would say very close,” the former South Africa national team coach said when asked how far Dolly was from being fit enough to make his full debut.
“When Keagan signed, he’d had a long period of inactivity so both his sharpness and his touch and his endurance was lacking.
“He’s worked really hard, he’s a great lad to have around the place and when he’s got on – he’s gone on in both of our games and in a friendly against SuperSport United – he’s done really well with the time he’s had on the pitch.
“Now, you can understand that the temptation for me is to throw him in, but I think we’d then be looking at a hamstring injury or a soft tissue injury if we do that, so I’m battling a little bit with myself not to throw him in too soon.
“But, at the same time, you see his quality when he comes on and you’re sorely tempted. All in all, he’s close and we’ll see, we always check how he reacts to each game, soreness, fatigue, those sort of things.”
It is now expected that Dolly could make his start when Chiefs take on Baroka FC on Wednesday.