Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has dismissed suggestions that Monnapule Saleng has become a forgotten player of his squad.
Saleng, 25, has been a shadow of the player who scooped the PSL Players Player of the Season in the 2022/23 season who scored 15 goals with 11 assist in 30 games.
He’s been benched for seven of the last 12 games in the league but returned to the starting line-up with aplomb, bagging a brace in the 3-2 Soweto Derby win over Kaizer Chiefs at Soccer City on Saturday afternoon.
“Saleng didn’t have a good half of the season for multiple reasons, we cannot discuss it in this space, in the AFCON break I think he did a very good job in the second pre-season we had, in the training matches,” Riveiro said about the ‘forgotten’ Saleng.
“He came in to play Sundowns, in Pretoria, not a bad job. And then we couldn’t have continuity with him for something simple like the flu that separated him from the group when we travelled to Polokwane.
“And then we used the game against Crystal Lake to see other options, use other players and then Wednesday he could have been an option from the bench against Cape Town Spurs, he was ready to play but in the end, I tried something different and kept him ready to play this game the way he did it.
“He’s not a forgotten player that’s for sure, you saw him today, he needs our support also, our help to be again the Saleng that everybody saw last season – and he’s right now he’s doing the right steps.”
Saleng will now be aiming to break into the starting line-up when Pirates take on Hungry Lions next week in the last-16 of the Nedbank Cup.
