Miguel Cardoso addresses Tsiki Ntsabeleng lack of game time | OneFootball

Interview

Cardoso speaks on Tsiki lack of minutes

Photo: Mamelodi Sundowns @ X

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has addressed Katlego ‘Tsiki’ Ntsabeleng's lack of game time.

The 27-year-old playmaker signed for the Betway Premiership champions on loan from Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit FC Dallas at the beginning of the season.

Since then he has made four appearances across all competitions, including in the Nedbank Cup on Wednesday, where he was withdrawn at half-time in the 2-1 win over Gomora United.

When pressed on Tsiki's limited minutes on the pitch, Cardoso attributed it to rife competition in the star-studded Sundowns squad.

“There's nothing wrong with Tsiki, he's a player that has no problems, there are no issues with Tsiki, he works normally. By the way, he made a very nice pre-season now in the second half of the season, when he arrived he had difficulties to understand a little bit what we wanted from him,” he said.

"But the problem is not Tsiki, the problem is the ones that also play in the position where Tsiki plays and there are obviously more players that play there. When there's a squad with 38 players, there'll always be three, four, five players that don't play so much.

"And as much as they work, and it's not a Tsiki question, there are others - there will always be someone that doesn't have the same game time and then if we are going to point the fingers to those ones, it's normal - there's no issues with him and anyone else.

"He's a very professional player, very good boy. I embraced him so much today at half-time, and I obliged him to raise the head and come to the bench as a man and as a high-quality player because obviously he's a quality player no doubt.

Meanwhile, Downs will swing back into action with a CAF Champions League clash against FC Saint-Eloi Lupopo in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday, 08 February.