Tenacious midfielder Tinashe Nengomasha has insisted that he will put the Club first after being dropped in the past three games, including the Soweto derby last Saturday.

‘General’, as Tinashe is affectionately known in football circles, has been a regular for Chiefs since signing on the dotted line back in January 2002, playing over 300 games.

“There is no fight between myself and the boss,” said Nengomasha speaking to kaizerchiefs.com on Friday afternoon.

“There is no beef. The Coach has made his decision about the players he wants to feature for games and the other guys have been given an opportunity. The media reports that we are not on speaking terms are not true.

“It has been a long season and we have 29 players in the team ready to come in and deliver. We have good youngsters that need to get experience and they will only get that experience when they play. If they do not play, they will not grow. If a youngster starts to play at 28 it is late.

“I support the decision of the Technical Team to give the opportunity to the youngsters, especially against Orlando Pirates – a massive game in South African football calendar. It was very important for their development and I have no doubt that they will respond even stronger when such opportunity is presented to them again.

“I want to play in each and every game and I am disappointed that I did not feature in the past couple of games. This happens sometimes in football and for me I am going to continue working hard in training; something I have done throughout my career.

“The Club comes first and, as a professional, I respect the decision of the Technical Team. I will support any team that walks on the pitch because they are there playing for the badge and the fans.

The ‘General’ added that the Club is in a good position to close the season in style. “It is in the team’s culture to win trophies and I strongly believe that we can win the Nedbank Cup. We need to take each game as it comes. Each game is a challenge; we need to keep on improving.

“The league is also still there for the taking. We need to take it one game at a time as you get to meet different opponents. We need to stay focused. Every game will be more important for us.

“We have a game coming up against Golden Arrows next week. Arrows is a team on a high, having won their past four games or so. We won our last game against Bloemfontein Celtic and it is important that we keep the momentum.

“The confidence to finish the chances we create is going to come. We are working on this in training with the Technical Team.”