Eric Tinkler confident Khaya Leshabela will adapt to PSL pace

Following The Foxes' relegation to The Championship last year, the 24-year-old left the English side and joined The Citizens on a free transfer last month.

With three appearances under his belt so far, Tinkler says it’s not unusual that a player coming from abroad will find the pace of the DStv Premiership slightly challenging. 

"A lot of players have come from Europe, or even other countries in Africa, and struggled in the beginning because of the speed of our game here in South Africa," said Tinkler.

"They all complain about the same thing – that everything is played at 1 000 miles an hour, but you can see technically he's a good player – he's comfortable on the ball, he can make a good pass, he's got that typical English pass that he plays.

"But I think right now, he's kind of playing within himself, and I'm pretty sure he'll come out of that eventually."

The City coach explained again why they were left no choice but to accelerate Leshabela into the team given the departures of Brice Ambina and Thato Mokeke, as well as other midfield casualties. 

"Everybody had to be fast-tracked, the Ambina thing happened very, very quickly. Thato Mokeke, obviously, was a long-term injury," he explained.

"The Prins [Tjiueza] thing did not happen – that was a massive loss in my opinion, because he was somebody we really saw as adding massive value in playing that 10 role.

"And then injuries to Tshego [Nyama], Darwin [Gonzalez] – I was starting to look at the DDC team again."

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