Why Monnapule Saleng could be back to his best

His coach Jose Riveiro has admitted the player struggled in the early months of the 2023/24 season for reasons the Spaniard would not disclose.

Following Pirates’ 3-2 win over Amakhosi at Soccer City, Riveiro offered some insight to why there are signs Saleng could finish the campaign strong.

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"He didn't have the best first half of the season for multiple reasons again that we cannot discuss in this space. In the AFCON break I think he did a very good job during the second preseason that we had, in the training matches," Riveiro said.

When the PSL resumed after the AFCON last month, Saleng’s progress got derailed by an illness and forced him to sit out the two matches against Polokwane City as well as Cape Town Spurs, the coach added.

"He came in to play Sundowns in Pretoria, not a bad job and then we couldn't continue with him for something simple like a flue that separated him [from the team] when we travelled to Polokwane," Riveiro added.

There were opportunities to get Saleng minutes in other matches before the derby, but Riveiro reveals held back hoping the attacker would be ready for Chiefs.

"And then we used the game against Crystal Lake to see other options, other players and when he was there he was good at being an option from the bench because he was ready to play. In the end, I decided to do something different and keep Saleng ready to play this game the way that he did it."