Black Leopards head coach Johnny Ferreira says midfielder Siphelele “Stash” Ntshangase is close to full fitness.
Ntshangase is back at the Motsepe Foundation Championship side following unsuccessful stints at Kaizer Chiefs and Marumo Gallants.
He was named in the squad that lost to Polokwane City in the Nedbank Cup qualifiers, however, was left out of the Vhembe derby against Venda Football Academy (VFA) which ended in a 1-1 draw. The coach says Ntshangase is still unfit but should be ready soon.
“He is not fit yet. He has trained with us for two weeks. He was in the squad for the Nedbank cup, we lost to Polokwane City last week and he is getting better,” he said.
“I like him just on a personal level Ntshangase. I have seen him play a million times. He has lost his way a little bit. I like his attitude and I’m sure within weeks you will see Siphelele [starting] for us”.”
The coach also spoke about playing the game in Thohoyandou a venue they haven’t used this season as a home ground following their move to Malumelele stadium.
The Vhembe derby was moved to Thohoyandou for safety and capacity reasons but Ferreira said that there is a superstition around the venue that he believes compliments Leopards’ style of play.
“You know there are superstitions in the African culture. They believe there is a superstition in Malamulele and we should rather move our games to Thohoyandou. I don’t know what we are going to do now, maybe move back to Malamulele.
“Malamulele is smaller, it is shorter in length and that suits our kind of football, our transition football. You know you sprint and 40 meters you are in the box, you sprint 40 meters and you are in your own box.
“Here [Thohoyandou] you have got to sprint 55 meters and it is a very big difference. You can create a winning scenario on this field. You can continue to stay here because you train in this heat and you become familiar with these conditions and teams will struggle here.”
Lidoda Duvha remains in 14th position on the log with 11 points from 13 games.
