Derrick Spencer has found a new lease on soccer after Coach Ernst Middendorp began using him in more attacking positions, allowing the young player the freedom to attack and defend when the need arises.

Thus far Derrick Spencer’s new position as a utility player or linkman between the defenders and the midfielders or the midfielders and the strikers fits like a glove.

Spencer has been uncompromising in defence and he has been imaginative and useful in attack. Derrick Spencer, while having lunch in the players lounge at the Kaizer Chiefs village, spoke to Yusuf Muhammad about his newfound role and how it has given him the motivation to go upwards and better.

Yusuf Muhammad: Derrick - the coach is using you in a different role altogether. How have you found the new responsibility that you have been shouldered with? In particular the instruction to push up and attack when Chiefs are moving forward.

Derrick Spencer: I am really enjoying my game at the moment and I do not feel the instructions given to me are a burden in any way. In fact - they have motivated me to improve because now I am able to contribute to the team in both ways, upfront to create goal scoring opportunities for the strikers - as well as stop the opposition from scoring.

When the coach first told me he wants to test me in a different role I was sceptical, at the end of the day one needs to have confidence in his abilities. All I needed to do was get the courage and accept more responsibility, which I did and for me the way I have been playing has really surprised me.

YM: In the 3-1 victory against Golden Arrows you played particularly well. Has that been your best performance of the season thus far?

DS: That was one of those games when everything just fell into place that day we attacked well, defended well and took our chances and that reflected in the scoreline. I really enjoyed the game because I thought that I had improved and played well when defending and anybody trying to keep up with Mabhuti Khanyeza knows it is not easy!

Pushing up was made harder by the fact that we played against the wind in the first half so getting the ball forward was very difficult. The whole team played well in the game. On a personal level - one of my shots was pushed out for a corner and from that corner we scored.

That is exactly what the coach wanted me to do. To probe at the defenders and create openings for the strikers - even after that game if you see some of our other matches we have been creating fifteen to twenty chances a game and we need to start turning goal scoring opportunities into goals.

YM: Yourself and Thabo Mooki seemed to have created a good understanding as you attack he goes back and vice versa?

DS: You know Thabo was also given a new role by the coach and he was asked to play as a more Central Defensive midfielder and I think he has adapted well to this kind of a position. We talked about this and we decided that to cover each other when the one is in attack one of us should cover.

Also when we defend Thabo has been lending extra cover to the defence and we have been able to defend well together and clear the danger. It just bodes well for the team when senior players like Thabo Mooki and Arthur Zwane are playing it gets the younger players motivated to see that the older guys can move so quickly across the field.

YM: This week Chiefs get to play a game behind closed doors against Black Leopards how do you think that playing in front of an empty stadium will affect the players. With all the rumblings in the media since Chiefs were handed the ban how have the players taken to the rulings and have the guys discussed it?

DS: I personally am not really affected by a game behind closed doors, playing in an empty stadium really has not baring on our mindset for the game. When we take to the pitch we are only focussed on one thing and that is winning, what I think has been hurtful is the fact that this has dragged on for so long.

Ultimately the biggest losers are the players a soccer player is an entertainer like a musician, if a musician turns up to an empty arena they will first be dejected. Ultimately you perform because you have a reputation at stake and those supporters who caused this problem have deprived us of playing in front of supporters, who love us regardless of what the result.

YM: Finally Derrick are you confident of victory against Black Leopards on Wednesday?

DS: Yes I do think so we have been playing well and the team is gelling together as a unit and if you saw the game against Celtic on Sunday we lost Rowen but had an equally good replacement in the form of Emile Baron. We are gaining in strength and confidence with Serge back and Agyemang ready for ninety minutes of action we are looking favourites for the three points on offer.