Stellenbosch FC coach Gavin Hunt has explained the decision to use debutant Olisa Ndah in the midfield position during the club’s hard-fought win against Chippa United on Saturday.
Stellies moved to the top eight of the Betway Premiership after a 2-1 win against the Chilli Boys at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town. It was their seventh win of the season, and they have now collected 28 points.
The 28-year-old Nigerian defender, Ndah, who joined from Orlando Pirates in February, had not yet made his debut due to work permit delays.
However, he was named in the starting XI by coach Gavin Hunt and played 84 minutes in the match against Chippa.
STELLENBOSCH FC COACH EXPLAINS THE DECISION TO PLAY OLISA NDA IN MIDFIELD
“You have to ask him, he’ll tell you, he’s a decent footballer. But he hasn’t played for a long time,” said Hunt.
“So I said to him, look, we don’t really have midfield players available. We had one on the bench, central midfield players, so I am going to play you there. It’s easier for you; you are not going to be under pressure, there is less pressure there, and he got on the ball, he can pass, and he can play.
“But obviously, he hasn’t played football in a long time. I didn’t want to break the back four that we had for the last couple of games, and there is a good old saying, – don’t make too many changes to make a change,” he explained.
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“So I didn’t want to change the back four and make a change. So I just made one change and put him in there. It sounds clever, but I had to do something, you know. You can’t just do nothing, and he was the best option for us.
“I think he took a little bit of time to get in there because the ball is a little bit quick, and when you haven’t played, you know, you lose the timing of the speed of the game, and he lost it a bit. But I think as the game went on, he was okay.”
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