Ronwen Williams hails Smith, highlights Bafana advantage ahead of AFCON | OneFootball

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Williams on Smith adaptation, Bafana AFCON advantage

Photo: Alche Greef/BackPagePix

Bafana Bafana goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams has heaped praise on newcomer Tylon Smith and highlighted a major advantage his team has ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The 20-year-old defender, who signed for English Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers (QPR) from Stellenbosch FC in July, was one of the suprise inclusions in Hugo Broos' squad, along with Shandre Campbell, as the pair had never received a senior call-up.

Smith has left a lasting impression in camp, with Williams noting his work ethic and positive mentality in training as he has set sights on commanding a regular place in the starting XI.

“It's been a weird camp for those reasons as well, not everyone is in camp. But for someone like Tylon, he's been here since day one and you can see the excitement everyday in the way he's training,” said the Bafana skipper.

"He's training like someone who wants to play and that is the right attitude to have, that's why he's part of this team. He's not here to add numbers, he's shown his worth and there are so many others as well. But I don't think it has sunk in yet that we are at the AFCON.

"I think once the full squad is together and once we are in Morocco, I think that's when we can also settle down as a team and then obviously shift the focus.

Though Europe-based players are yet to report for the national team camp, the experienced shot-stopper believes Bafana are better off compared to other nations who have a plethora of exports, while Broos' side is mainly comprised of locally-based players.

“Yes, the training has been good, there has been a lot of hard work that has been done but you could see that something is missing and that's probably the fact that one of the boys are not here in camp as well,” Williams added.

"But these are lessons and all the other teams are going through the same as well. We can be happy that we at least have more than half of our players here. Other teams can't say the same, so we can't wait to get that side.

"It's one week away and it's just for us to go out there and do what we have been doing - help the youngsters because there's a lot of young boys now in the team. We have to help them, get them settled down and they can perform.

Bafana will host Ghana B in their AFCON preparation match at Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday (16h00), with the continental showpiece in Morocco set to commence on 21 December.