Following his sparkling debut, Orlando Pirates coach Fadlu Davids has hinted that the club's new signing Ntsako Makhubela could be the puzzle piece the Buccaneers were missing, although he sent out a strong warning to the midfielder.
Makhubela, who was roped in by Pirates during the August transfer window, impressed on debut for Pirates as they claimed a 1-0 in over Swallows FC in the original Soweto Derby.
The 27-year-old lasted 85 minutes before he was replaced by fellow new recruit, Olisah Ndah.
After the match, Davids was full of praise for the midfield trickster, who had a hand-in-glove moment for the Soweto giants who were missing key players through injury.
"'Neverdie' came into the team and fitted in so well in terms of the group, in terms of the cohesion with the players," Davids told the media.
"We know he can play in different positions and [he is] very key in terms of executing our high press when we don't have the ball and [he is] really smart in trying to find the spaces that the opponent left, whether it's between the lines or whether it is picking the ball up in a deeper position and carrying it into the final third. So [ I am] really happy with his contribution, it's never easy coming in. He started a bit slow with his first two actions but immediately settled in and it shows a really strong character to be able to have no fear making your debut for Orlando Pirates where your first two actions don't go well and then bouncing back to be able to have such a performance, so credit to him."
Davids has warned the former Golden Arrows man not to get carried away with one glittering performance, although he added that there will be much more expectation from the midfielder once his fitness levels increase.
"He has to keep his feet on the ground, its one game and we expect so much more from him once he's really fit and we know in terms of his match minutes what his maximum was and we went a little bit over, but we have an entire week to prepare for the next game," he added.
