Midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala was pleased with his contributions during Monday’s training session while fellow midfielder Mandla Masango believes that continuing to train on his own during the time off helped keep him in good physical nick.

Happy to be back

Chiefs Bafana Bafana winger Siphiwe Tshabalala felt positive about the rest of the week's work after the club's first training session of 2010 and said: “I feel really good after the session. I think that keeping up and working out on my own over the past three weeks has really helped keep me in shape. It is a big year ahead so it is important that from the beginning I am in tip top shape”. Of returning to work, Tshabalala said: “having time off is always wonderful but you miss your teammates and kicking the ball around. I enjoyed the holidays but I am happy to be back on the training ground. Like I said, 2010 is a big year and I am really eager for the league to resume and for the World Cup to happen”.

Mpumalanga break

Mandla Masango spent his time at home in the town of Kriel in the Mpumalanga province and he too has found benefit from sticking to a training regime, which was given to him when the team went into the break in December. “It feels really good to be back and I think I am feeling this way as a result of the added workouts I did over the holidays. It is a new year now and I am looking forward to trying to get as much game time as possible. My target is to play and make a meaningful contribution for the team through the remaining league and cup fixtures for the rest of the season”.