Ndah aims to come back stronger

Olisa Ndah has reiterated he’s not reading too much into suggestions that he may never play for Orlando Pirates again following his costly Soweto derby own goal that gifted bitter foes Kaizer Chiefs a 1-0 win last month.

“I am not really bothered about what people say because definitely people are [always] going to talk. I know what I have to do... I need to come back stronger. The mistakes are part of football. It [making mistakes] is part of my growth,” Ndah said at the MTN8 Goals For Charity Funds Disbursement event at Little Rose Centre in Kliptown, Soweto, last Wednesday.

Notions that Ndah’s Pirates career could be in jeopardy after flopping in the Soweto derby stem from what the club’s former defenders Thulani “Tyson” Hlatshwayo and Innocent Mdledle said in recent months. “You make a mistake in the derby, you are gone,” said Mdledle on TK Solutions TV podcast, last month.

Hlatshwayo also told sportscaster Thabiso Mosia in his SA FM sports show that his mistake, an ill-timed back pass that resulted in Keagan Dolly scoring the opener when Chiefs beat Bucs 2-1 in November 2021, changed things for the worse for him at Pirates. After that blunder Hlatshwayo never started a game in the Sea Robbers colours, until he left the club for his current employers SuperSport United last June.

What has further raised eyebrows is that Ndah has never made Pirates match-day squad since his own goal against Amakhosi. The Nigerian defender has since revealed that his absence was due to an injury, insisting he doesn't really want to give more details on the particular injury.

“It’s frustrating to be in and out because of injuries... sometimes you feel down but I have to embrace it because it's part of the game. I really don’t want to speak more about injury for now,” Ndah said.

The Sea Robbers will continue their push for CAF Champions League qualification when they face Richards Bay at King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday (3pm).