Rayners happy to assist as long as team benefits

SuperSport United's Iqraam Rayners isn't really fussing about his curious case of leading the assist chart, while he's yet to find the back of the net as a striker this season.

Rayners has more assists (6) than any other player in the DStv Premiership in the current campaign. SuperSport's leading scorer Bradley Grobler has notched up the same number of goals as Rayners' assists in the league. Last term, the former Stellenbosch striker managed four goals and five assists from 25 games across all tournaments.

"My assists are good for the team. Yes, I would like to score goals as a striker but my priority is always to help the team. My assists are a good sign that I am performing well. My time will come to score goals because I am working very hard on my finishing,'' Rayners told Sowetan.

"I will always put the team first. Even if I can score one goal the entire season, I will be happy if the team achieves the objectives set at the start of the season."

Rayners achieved his assist feat mainly coming off the bench as a substitute, having started just three of the 10 league games he has been involved in this season. Coach Gavin Hunt prefers to start with tried and tested strikers in Grobler and Thamsanqa Gabuza. 

At times Rayners operates as a secondary striker. The 26-year-old striker isn't feeling bad that sometimes Hunt deploys him behind either Grobler or Gabuza, praising the experienced duo for their contributions thus far.

"Any position for me is fine. I am comfortable with any offensive position. Bradley and Gabuza are doing well, scoring goals for us. They are our senior players and we are learning from them, hoping that we will emulate them,'' Rayners said.

Gabuza has scored twice from 11 DStv Premiership outings this season. Matsatsantsa collected 21 points from 12 matches before the league was paused due to the ongoing Fifa World Cup in Qatar. The Tshwane side host Marumo Gallants at Lucas Moripe Stadium when action resumes on December 30.