Where Desiree Ellis is likely to play Blackburn star Faith Nokuthula

Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis has hailed Faith Nokuthula Ngwenya’s qualities and hinted where she is likely to play her.

Ellis was impressed by Ngwenya after their first training session in London ahead of Saturday’s much-awaited international friendly against Australia.

Ngwenya, who plays as a defender received her first Banyana call-up following her stellar displays at Blackburn Rovers, having joined the side in August this year after parting ways with Brighton and Hove Albion, where she spent three seasons.

She has played every minute of the Blues’ four Barclays Women’s Championship games this campaign, where she caught the attention of coach Ellis.

The three-time CAF Women’s Coach of the Year praised the “incredible” 20-year-old rising star after showing a glimpse of what she can offer to the Banyana set-up.

ELLIS ON NOKUTHULA

“There is something that many people don’t know about Faith,” Ellis told the SAFA media officer.

“She actually plays as a right-full back or right-wing back at Blackburn.

“But, Nokuthula played in the youth team at Brighton as a central midfielder.

“However, we played her today in the position of the right-full back, and she looked very calm on the ball.

“Her passing was really good, and she really impressed in just one session. But she showed her qualities, and really looking forward to seeing her tomorrow as well.

Nokuthula was born in Ireland to South African parents and has opted to represent South Africa.

Reflecting on their preparations for the game, Ellis said: “It was good to get Jermaine [Seoposenwe] and Linda [Motlhalo] finally in camp. So, everyone is camp right now.”

“I think the session went really went well. We worked on a few things that we need to be better at.

“I’m really excited about this session. The players looked very sharp today. We have one more session at the stadium, and we are looking forward to going there because we want to be better than we were against Brazil.

“There are a lot of things that we worked on in a short space of time. Unfortunately, we couldn’t work on everything. But I think defensively, we go a little bit disorganised, so we are going to make sure that we cover each other and minimize our mistakes.

Banyana suffered an overall 9-0 defeat to Brazil in two international friendlies played in South Africa last month, and coach Ellis believes that her side will improve when they face the co-hosts of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup tomorrow.

“We are looking for an improved performance from the Brazil game because we know we are better than that.”