Relieved Phala in groove again
DROUGHT: SUPERSPORT STRIKER BACK AMONG THE GOALS
Side now head for Fortress Mbombela to face Golden Arows.
Up until his conversation with the Saturday Citizen, Thuso Phala had not been very vocal about the mounting pressure on him for not finding the back of the net for over a year, before he scored in a Telkom Knockout tie against Polokwane City last weekend.
“It was a great feeling to get the monkey off my back. For me it was a real confidence booster and motivation that I can go back to how I know myself to be,” said Phala.
“The pressure has been there even though I do not say much about it, but it was there. It was an important goal and hopefully it will give me confidence to get more goals.
“As an attacker I always try to create and score goals but that has not been happening for me even though the team has been doing well ... for me personally I wasn’t really doing well in terms of my grades, so to say,” he added.
The veteran attacker is hoping to pick off where he left when Matsatsantsa A Pitori host Golden Arrows tomorrow afternoon in an Absa Premiership encounter. The capital city club will be playing at their home-away-from-home, the Mbombela Stadium, for the first time this season – a venue they have made into a fortress.
“Football is a mental game and I don’t remember the last time we lost a game there, we have a lot of good results there and we are going there with a lot of confidence because we are going to our happy hunting ground,” said Phala.
“The last time we played Arrows at Mbombela we beat them 3-0 and ... that can only give us confidence. It is a Fifa World Cup venue and a good pitch, it allows us to play the style of football we want to play.
“We know things have not been good for them (Arrows) especially with their injury woes they have to some key players. Everything is looking positive for us, we have to win the game ... we made it quite clear that our priority is to challenge for the league.”