With one 20-year-old grabbing all the headlines at the moment it has been hard for the other players promoted from the Kaizer Chiefs academy at the start of the season to get onto to the back pages. One guy who is happy to build on the odd substitute appearance that does allow him to get a run out in the field Sandile Zuke, is using every minute towards working his way towards eventually winning a starting place in the team.

Zuke who featured in his third game this season when Chiefs drew with Amazulu on Wednesday, is used by Muhsin Ertugral in an attacking role which is different to the defensive midfield role that he occupied during his time at the Kaizer Chiefs academy.

Liked by Ertugral for his speed and ability to weave past opponents and unlock the door, Zuke will in all certainty over the next few months establish himself as a key team player. In the mean time he is using what ever playing time comes his way to help further his dreams and ambitions of becoming a Chiefs regular.

Into the action

Sandile entered the fray on Wednesday evening with around twenty minutes of the game remaining. He came into the field of play at a time when both teams were pushing for a winner and the pace of the game as well as the level of intensity had been pushed up a few notches.

Like a seasoned professional it did not take him long to get into the rhythm of the game, as he said “the moment I got into the game I could see that both teams were not sitting around waiting for the other to make a move. Instead they were going at each other, and given the fact that it was drizzling the ball was moving around faster, so I had no time to wait to acclimatize and had to just get into the game. On reflection I think I did what I was asked to do by the coach, I had the one shot from distance which I dragged wide perhaps I rushed the shot a bit and should have taken a bit more time aiming for the target”.

No preference

Wednesday evening’s game against Amazulu was like a personal derby for Zuke as he comes from Umlazi just South of Durban. So being a local he was coming up against a team from his own back yard. He was given the job to play in an attacking midfield role, one that he was not accustomed to playing in until the start of this season, as he goes on to add.

“All my life I played in the same kind of position that Tinashe Nengomasha plays in, that is in a holding role between defence and midfield, Mushin Ertugral has given me more attacking roles and I quite like the gap that he asked me to fill”.

Good time

Although he has played in just three games this season, with two of those appearances being as a substitute, Sandile feels any game time at the moment is good time, “I really feel that if I can come off the bench and make an impact and try and help the team change the course of the game then I am on the right track to where I want to get to” added Zuke.

He does though need to make his time out on the field even if it be as a substitute count, as he explained “every twenty minutes or fifteen minutes on the field as a substitute is beneficial for me, as long as I get into the game and use the time to improve match on match then the chances of me getting more and more playing time will obviously increase”.