Durban — Golden Arrows goalkeeper Siyabonga Mbatha has opened up about his dark two year spell in which he failed to make a single appearance in the top-flight of South African football.
The 34-year-old shot-stopper recently made his long awaited return in the last-32 of the Nedbank Cup in the colours of Abafana Bes’thende after having last played back in 2021 whilst with AmaZulu.
Mbatha has struggled with injury, his weight and loss of form but has bounced back as he looks to cement himself as Arrows’ No 1 for the foreseeable future.
He spoke to the media ahead of his side’s upcoming Nedbank Cup round of 16 battle against Royal AM and he revealed his joy at being back playing and appreciated the importance of mental strength as a professional.
“That’s always the plan (playing regularly), I’ve been out for two years and it hasn’t been nice so, to come back and get gametime means a lot to me so obviously I’d like to consistently be in the No 1 spot,” he told members of the media.
“You need to be strong mentally, especially when you’re in a competitive sport because not everything will come your way so when things go left then I think you need to make sure that you work so hard to move towards the right direction.
“Getting that start against Pretoria Callies meant a lot to me, I wanted to do well obviously and the more I can play and try to keep clean sheets for the team, that will be enough.”
Mbatha feels that, although the club isn’t applying any pressure for silverware, they have decided as players that they need to make progress as a club moving forward.
“Well there isn’t that much pressure from the club but we’ve taken it upon ourselves to say since we’ve made the first step can we make the second step and when the league comes back, we’ll focus on that as well.”
IOL Sport