Kaizer Chiefs’ Njabulo Ngcobo was part of the Warriors team that won the inaugural DStv Compact Cup this past weekend, an experience he felt was hugely beneficial.

He was included in the team which was led by Dylan Kerr and defeated Coastal United 2-1 in the final, and which was headlined by a number of strong performances from Chiefs players including Itumeleng Khune, Keagan Dolly and Njabulo Blom.

Ngcobo is now looking to use the experience of the Compact Cup to help Chiefs lay claim to a 14^th Nedbank Cup crown.

He has been in good form for club and country this season and was grateful for the opportunity to feature in the new Compact Cup competition.

“I thank the supporters for voting for me, I am really happy to see that they believed in me. The experience was good, mixing with players from other teams helped me learn a lot,” says Ngcobo.

He was deployed as a defender in the Compact Cup and was happy to continue to build his game as he becomes more versatile and skilled in a variety of roles, something he is pleased about.

“Those two games were special for me. I have not played much as a defender this season and it was very important for me to play in that role again. I did well over the two games and there is still room for improvement for me in my game,” Ngcobo told www.kaizerchiefs.com.

Overall, he believes the experience which saw him in a setup which combined players from other teams in the league was a beneficial one,.

“in these kinds of situations, like when you at the national team, you learn from different players. Happy Jele was playing alongside me and I took a lot from the experience. When you play with guys who have been around for a long time you try to learn as much as you can. I am happy to have given my best and gained from it,” Ngcobo says modestly.

While he was away competing in the Compact Cup, Ngcobo’s Chiefs teammates were in a midseason camp in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, but he was aware of what was going on in the camp as he was in regular contact with his teammates.

Of being in the loop with Chiefs teammates he said “I stayed connected with the guys. I spoke regularly to Thabani Dube and Siphosakhe Ntiya Ntiya. I feel the team will come back stronger and the camp was beneficial. From my discussions with the guys it seems It gave them the opportunity to improve on various aspects. While I missed the camp, I am happy to join up with the team again,” says Ngcobo.

With the midseason break almost at an end Chiefs first assignment back will be on the 12^th February when they host TS Galaxy in a round of 32 clash.

For Ngcobo his sights are now fully set on Chiefs’ first game of 2022 and for him, a good start in the cup is vital.

“The reason I am a Chiefs player is because I want to win for the team, which makes the Nedbank Cup very important for us. Since we are coming into the tournament after a break the camp would have also helped us to be competitive. Everyone is ready to play the way the guys are training, and you can see everyone is ready to compete,” said the key Chiefs utility player

According to Ngcobo, in the build up to the game, there will be no complacency from Amakhosi.

“We know the importance of every game and we cannot detail just how important our round of 32 game against TS Galaxy is and we have to work hard to be successful,” Ngcobo says in conclusion.