The hardworking defender picked up the injury in the first half of the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates in May as he fell awkwardly unchallenged and partially tore his Achilles tendon. He subsequently underwent operation and had to be plastered.

However, the plasters have been taken off and he can comfortably walk without crutches. But the Bafana defender admitted it was not easy to watch from the stands as Amakhosi staged a dramatic late surge to snatch the title from right under the noses of Pirates.

"It wasn’t nice sitting at home and doing nothing while I was trying to recover," he says. "I am getting better and I am visiting the physiotherapist everyday. It’s only a matter of time and I will take it easy for now and wait for another two months or so before I return to action."

Nzama contributed a lot to Amakhosi’s title run but could not play any part in the last game of the season when the Glamour Boys lifted the title. "It was bad to miss out on the last day of the season but it’s one of those things and injuries are part of football," says Nzama. "But it was good to see the guys winning in that fashion."

That injury also cost him a place in the national team as he missed the World Cup and African Cup of Nations Qualifiers against Cape Verde (2-1 win) and Ghana (2-0 defeat). "I got injured at the wrong time but there are so many players in South Africa who are capable of representing the country," he says.

Skhokho says he had great support that kept him going while out of action with injury. “The support from my family, the team and medical staff has been great and that actually made life easy for me."

His comments on the new coach... "Some people say change is good. It’s good to work with someone who knows African football. Our new coach has worked in Ghana with Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak and as such he’s not new to African football. We hope he will help us in other aspects of our football."