SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo says the attitude of the want-away midfielder, Sipho Mbule, has changed a lot and that’s why he has returned to the team.

Kaizer Chiefs-linked Mbule made his first appearance for the Pretoria-based outfit this year when he came off the bench in a 2-0 DStv Premiership win over AmaZulu on Saturday.

It’s believed Mbule tried to force his way out of SuperSport while his agent, Mike Makaab, confirmed in media reports were the player wanted to move to Chiefs.

The player apparently did not react well initially when a move did not materialise in the January transfer window.

Tembo said the 23-year-old has recently been working hard at training , but his fitness levels are not at the right place.

“We’ve been very supportive of him because we feel he is a talented youngster. It’s our duty to try help and guide him so he is not lost to SA football,” Tembo said.

“His response has been very good, his attitude at training has been very good, but he is lacking a bit in terms of match fitness.

“It will only come with him playing (more). We will try to build his match fitness gradually because we don’t want to push him too hard.

“We are quite happy with his progress so far and I think very soon we'll see the real Sipho Mbule we all know,” Tembo said

SuperSport's coach did not want to be drawn into a conversation about the player’s next destination.

“I don’t think we need to focus on that because what is important is that Sipho Mbule is a SuperSport United player at the moment.

“That’s our focus. We can’t control what happens at the end of the season. For now, he is our player.”

SuperSport return to action by visiting GladAfrica Championship side Platinum City Rovers in the Nedbank Cup last-16 at Olen Park in Potchefstroom on Saturday (kickoff 6pm).