Sekhukhune United head coach Kaitano Tembo has explained coach MacDonald Makhubedu’s absence in their 2-0 win over Orlando Pirates in the DStv Premiership clash at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday night.
The ex-SuperSport United mentor revealed that Makhubedu will be away for about a week as he is off to Namibia to do a coaching education course.
“Coach MacDonald is away for about four to five days. He is going to Namibia to do a Scottish C Licence,” Tembo told journalists in Polokwane.
“But, he will be back with us soon. He is only missing this game and the Friday game, and after that, he will be back.”
The 50-year-old coach went on to explain the reason why they had to substitute striker Tshegofaso Mabasa, who joined Babina Noko from the Buccaneers at the beginning of the new campaign.
Mabasa signed for the Limpopo club on a season-long loan and has already found the back of the net on two occasions for Sekhkhune in the eight games he has played this season.
TEMBO ON MABASA SUBSTITUTION
“Probably he was too emotional, hence he didn’t have a good game,” said Tembo.
“You know, we could see that he really wanted to score against them but that really affected his game.
“That was the reason why we had to take him off in order to take the pressure away from him as well.”
At the start of the new season, Tembo had vowed to help the ex-Bloemfontein Celtic frontman to stay injury free and get his mojo back as the season progresses.
“Look, Tshego is a natural goalscorer. Unfortunately, his progress has been hampered by injuries,” Tembo added.
“But we are going to try to manage him with the rest of the squad in a different way to try to help him in terms of strength recovery and injury prevention so that he can be available most of the time.”
Tembo also stated that Mabasa can reach a higher level of performance as long as he keeps his eyes on the prize.
“I’m quite happy with the progress that we have made so far with him because he is also looking hungry. What I like about him is that he always has something to prove, so we need players with that kind of mindset,” he explained.
“The first that he arrived, I told him that we have got a lot of top goalscorers in the team, but we need to be brothers and know each other better.
“I think with time; when they start gelling, we will start seeing a lot of goals and good football coming out of these guys.”
