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The two midfielders will not be sent out on loan as the 60-year-old mentor believes they have a role to play in his team
Happy Mashiane and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo will not be leaving Kaizer Chiefs in the near future, according to coach Ernst Middendorp.
The two academy graduates were promoted to the first team not so long ago but have had to deal with injuries that hampered their progress.
However, Middendorp is willing to give them enough time to prove their mettle by keeping in his team for the foreseeable future unlike Itumeleng Shopane, Given Thibedi and Ayanda Rorwana who were loaned out to Swallows FC at the start of the season to gain experience.
“I actually feel, at the moment, we should work with them for the entire season,” Middendorp told the media.
“Ngcobo has just come back from a long-term injury and Mashiane was out for a long time too… over six months. So, we’re bringing him back into the team, and he’s part of the team that qualified for the Olympic Games.
“I think at the moment, we should not think about releasing them.”
Middendorp admitted it has been difficult giving some of his younger players a run even in the MultiChoice Diski Challenge (MDC) due to the competition’s age restriction.
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The MDC enforced an age restriction rule that only players 21-years-old and younger can participate, and this has sidelined players such as Mashiane (23) and Sizwe Twala (22), whom Chiefs would have liked to see get game-time week while working their way up the ranks with the first team.
However, he promised to give as many of these players as possible a run during the course of the season.
“Unfortunately, some players can’t play in the Diski team, like Sizwe Twala or Mashiane, because of the age restriction but from the training side, we’re working with them; we keep them close to the first team, and I’m quite sure that certain players will even get a chance during the run of this season,” he concluded.
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