Veteran striker Ndumiso Mabena says he is happy to play a mentorship role at Orlando Pirates, guiding other strikers to improve their game.
After making a surprise return to the Buccaneers in December last year, Mabena has struggled for game time, only making one appearance when he came in as a sub during their 0-1 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns earlier this month.
But that’s little of the 35-year-old's worries as he continues to wait for his opportunity while supporting fellow strikers who are getting the nod ahead of him.
“I’m happy I’m back home where I started my professional career and I’m happy that I’ve been welcomed very warmly,” Mabena told the media.
“So, I have settled in very well and I think I have done very well for the team since I came back. When I returned, we were playing in the MTN8 final, so I had to share my experience of playing in the finals.
“I think it helped a lot and even when we started losing our games after we won the trophy, we sat down as players and discussed what is it that we are doing wrong that we were not doing before we won the MTN8.
“So after that, we started getting positive results. We are happy with the positive results we have been getting and I think it is a morale booster going into the Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs.
“We know that Chiefs won four derbies in a row and we don’t want to be the fifth one... [them] to make their record against us.”
Mabena added he understands that other strikers like Terrence Dzvukamanja and Kermit Erasmus are doing well and that he is happy as long as they score goals and help the team win.
“There is a lot of quality in the team up front. It doesn't matter who is injured or not, whoever gets a chance, you will see he wants to score,” he said.
“You can see Dzvukamanja is starting to score and Marou [Souaibou] will get his chance. What we do at training is what we want to do in the matches and I’m happy in the previous games we managed to score goals. So the competition is high and everyone is ready.”
After leaving Orlando Pirates in 2014 after five seasons, Mabena enjoyed better run of form at Platinum Stars and later Bloemfontein Celtic. Ironically, both teams have closed shop after selling their Premiership statuses.
His last team before returning to Bucs was Royal AM, which bought Celtic.
Mabena happy to mentor fellow Bucs strikers
Pirates aim to stop Chiefs from winning five derbies in a row
Image: Lefty Shivambu
Veteran striker Ndumiso Mabena says he is happy to play a mentorship role at Orlando Pirates, guiding other strikers to improve their game.
After making a surprise return to the Buccaneers in December last year, Mabena has struggled for game time, only making one appearance when he came in as a sub during their 0-1 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns earlier this month.
But that’s little of the 35-year-old's worries as he continues to wait for his opportunity while supporting fellow strikers who are getting the nod ahead of him.
“I’m happy I’m back home where I started my professional career and I’m happy that I’ve been welcomed very warmly,” Mabena told the media.
“So, I have settled in very well and I think I have done very well for the team since I came back. When I returned, we were playing in the MTN8 final, so I had to share my experience of playing in the finals.
“I think it helped a lot and even when we started losing our games after we won the trophy, we sat down as players and discussed what is it that we are doing wrong that we were not doing before we won the MTN8.
“So after that, we started getting positive results. We are happy with the positive results we have been getting and I think it is a morale booster going into the Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs.
“We know that Chiefs won four derbies in a row and we don’t want to be the fifth one... [them] to make their record against us.”
Mabena added he understands that other strikers like Terrence Dzvukamanja and Kermit Erasmus are doing well and that he is happy as long as they score goals and help the team win.
“There is a lot of quality in the team up front. It doesn't matter who is injured or not, whoever gets a chance, you will see he wants to score,” he said.
“You can see Dzvukamanja is starting to score and Marou [Souaibou] will get his chance. What we do at training is what we want to do in the matches and I’m happy in the previous games we managed to score goals. So the competition is high and everyone is ready.”
After leaving Orlando Pirates in 2014 after five seasons, Mabena enjoyed better run of form at Platinum Stars and later Bloemfontein Celtic. Ironically, both teams have closed shop after selling their Premiership statuses.
His last team before returning to Bucs was Royal AM, which bought Celtic.
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