Sowetan

Exciting Ndlondlo aims to add scoring power to his boots

Pirates midfielder ‘ not entirely happy’ with his goals contributi­on

- By Sihle Ndebele

Orlando Pirates midfielder Ndabayithe­thwa Ndlondlo has challenged himself to improve his goal-contributi­on ratio in the second half of the campaign. The 28-year-old Ndlondlo scored one goal and managed two assists from 21 games across all competitio­ns this season. Ndlondlo says he needs more goals and assists in the second stanza of this term, starting with a titanic clash against Mamelodi Sundowns away on Saturday (8pm).

“I am not entirely happy with my contributi­on this season but with the little glimpse that I’ve shown, I am confident that I am getting somewhere... there’s always room for improvemen­t, ” Ndlondlo said during Pirates’ visit at Zodwa Khoza Foundation Skills and Entreprene­urial Developmen­t Centre in Diepkloof, Soweto, on Friday, where Pirates donated goods worth R100,000 courtesy of Goals for Charity initiative after winning the MTN8 early this term.

“In the second round of the season, I really want to improve by scoring more goals and providing more assists because that would help the team win more games.”

Ndlondlo also thinks the only thing they must fine-tune as a collective is their mentality. Pirates collected 25 points from possible 48 in the first round of the season. They are 13 points behind leaders Sundowns, whohave twogames in hand.

“Not a lot of things that need to be changed but it’s only the mindset. Other than that, we’ve been doing well, so in the second round of the season our focus will be mainly on improving our mental strength,” Ndlondlo said.

Pirates were initially scheduled to host Chippa United at Orlando Stadium tomorrow until the league decided to postponed all midweek games yesterday.

Fixtures

Friday: SuperSport v Stellenbos­ch, Peter Mokaba (7pm)

Saturday: Swallows v Polokwane, Dobsonvill­e (3.30pm); Chippa v CPT City, Buffalo City (3.30pm); Spurs v AmaZulu, Athlone (5.30pm); Sekhukhune v Bay, Peter Mokaba (5.30pm); Sundowns v Pirates, Loftus Versfeld (8pm)

Sunday: Royal v Chiefs, Harry Gwala (3.30pm); Galaxy v Arrows, Mbombela (7.30pm)

‘‘ Focus will be mainly on improving our mental strength

 ?? /PHILIP MAETA / GA L LO I M AG E S ?? Phillip Ndlondlo hopes to add more fire power for Orlando Pirates.
/PHILIP MAETA / GA L LO I M AG E S Phillip Ndlondlo hopes to add more fire power for Orlando Pirates.
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