Mkhalele's desperate plea to PSL clubs

Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele had issued a plea to Premier Soccer League clubs to put faith in more young players. 

The ex-Orlando Pirates winger is currently in charge of the national team™s COSAFA Cup squad, which lost on penalties to Mozambique in the quarterfinals at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday night.

Filled with debutants, many of the selected players also ply their trade in the lower division or the Diski Challenge, but Mkhalele says it would help their confidence if they were getting regular game time at senior club level regardless of their age.

"I'm hoping that the players that, since we have given them this opportunity, as much as we have bigger plans, we are hoping clubs - I know they are under pressure to win, will also give them game-time," Mkhalele said after the match.

"Because it's very difficult for us, we call players then they get game-time at the national team but they don't get regular game-time at their clubs - we'll be going forward two steps and then backward three steps, but I'm hoping the clubs will also assist in this regard.

"But again, I'm not putting the blame on the clubs for our loss. We take ownership of the loss and we'll go back to the drawing board to see what we can do in order to improve our team going forward."

Mkhalele earlier said that the COSAFA Cup squad includes players that will form part of the Under-23 qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. 

By Mazola Molefe