Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Scott’s ready to contribute now that injury woes over
Ajax midfielder admits they can expect a tough fixture against Platinum
GRANWALD SCOTT is gradually making his way back to full fitness – and it won’t be long before the experienced Ajax Cape Town midfielder is mixing it with the best in the PSL.
Having returned from a frustrating injury- enforced spell on the sidelines, Scott is being brought on slowly by coach Muhsin Ertugral. He has come off the bench in the second half in the past few fixtures and he should be cherry-ripe for the second half of the season next year.
Ajax head into the final game of the year this evening when they host Platinum Stars at the Cape Town Stadium (kick-off 8.15pm) and it’s likely that Ertugral will again use Scott as an impact player.
But things looked rather bleak for the footballer from Factreton a few months ago.
Always an influential member of the Ajax squad, Scott has struggled to emulate the form he showed under Dutch coach Foppe de Haan a few years ago.
Just 26, it would seem that the midfielder has been around the PSL forever, especially considering that he has been playing at this level for a decade already.
PWD Chiefs 13 8 3 2 Sundowns 12 7 3 2 Wits 12 6 4 2 Swallows 13 6 3 4 AmaZulu 14 5 5 4 SuperSport 12 5 4 3 Ajax CT 13 5 4 4 Plat Stars 13 5 4 4 Black Aces 13 4 5 4 Bloem Celtic 13 3 7 3 Polokwane 14 4 2 8 U Pretoria 14 4 2 8 Pirates 7 4 1 2 Maritzburg 14 3 3 8 FS Stars 13 3 3 7 Arrows 14 3 1 10
LFA Pts 18 9 27 24 12 24 12 6 22 19 15 21 16 19 20 18 14 19 14 14 19 14 15 19 12 13 17 18 18 16 15 18 14 10 13 14 9 5 13 10 17 12 10 18 12 9 22 10
Ertugral, for one, is happy to have the player back and training, and motivated and determined to make a contribution to the team’s success.
“Scott is geting better every week,” said the Ajax coach. “I’ve always considered him to be one of the best midfielders in the country. It is unfortunate that he has had so many problems with injury. It appears to be sorted now and the medical and fitness staff are working on him every day.
“He is still not yet where I want him to be, in terms of physical shape, but it shouldn’t be too long before he’s back to his best.”
Scott admitted that he had gone through a really torrid time.
“I injured my knee last season and was out for a while,” said Scott. “But the problem, I think, was when I came back this season. I pushed too hard, too soon. I wanted to do too much when the injury wasn’t perhaps fully recovered. This led to side effects on other areas, like my hamstrings and quads.
“As a result of this, it has taken more than 12 weeks for me to get back to training with the PSL squad. So now, it’s one day at a time... I will not make the same mistake again.
“The coaches and medical staff have me on a special training programme to make sure that my rehabiliation goes well, and that I don’t break down this time.”
Looking ahead to tonight’s fixture against Platinum, Scott was fully aware of the challenge that awaited Ajax.
“It should be a really tough game,” said Scott. “Platinum have done very well recently. We watched their recent Cup final win over Orlando Pirates and they were unbelievable.
“They have a great style of football and they have belief in the each other and their team as a whole. They are a hardrunning bunch of footballers who never give up.
“We are going to have to be at our best.”