Chippa’s Wambi fit and ready to fight for place
FIT-AGAIN Chippa United midfielder Strydom Wambi is looking forward to making this a year to remember as the Premier Soccer League enters the second phase of the season next month.
Wambi could not finish the first half of the league last year due to a hamstring injury sustained early last month.
Now back at training, Wambi, 29, said he was excited to be on the pitch with his teammates after a stressful spell of recovery.
“It can be hard when you’re out injured, but I had to focus on rehabilitation and return to training straight away when we reopened,” he said.
“I am glad all worked out and when we opened on January 9, I was ready to join my teammates on the field.
“I have put that behind me and now I am fighting to get fit and win back my place in the team.”
Acknowledging his team’s slide on the log, the former Jomo Cosmos man said the players would work hard to turn their fortunes around in the league.
The Port Elizabeth side is 11th on the log with 16 points from 14 games. Just four points separate them from 16th-placed Baroka.
“We started the season very well, and I settled [more quickly into] the new environment.
“We dropped a little bit from October onwards in terms of results, even though the team continued to play well,” Wambi said.
“This affected our confidence and of course my game,” he said.
“We are [now] all looking forward to making [this] a year to remember for the club.
“We deserve to be higher up on the table and we will work towards improving the situation.”
The Chilli Boys get back into action on February 7 when they host Baroka at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (7.30pm).
Wambi said the match would not be an easy one.
He said the team’s focus now was to continue to work on fitness levels and concentrate on improving as a team.
“We must play our game, remain united, follow the coach’s instructions – and when we have all these elements it is difficult for teams to stop us.”