Riveiro Explains Saleng HT Change For Teenage Nkota

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has lauded the potential of Mohau Nkota who he surprisingly used to replace Monnapule Saleng against Magesi.

The teenage winger has earned rave reviews from the technical team since being promoted from the DStv Diski Challenge squad where he was one of the standout players alongside Relebohile Mofokeng.

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But the Kimberly-born talent had to bide his time for opportunities and has now been in the matchday squad for three consecutive games, with 13 minutes received as his debut against Richards Bay and then remaining on the bench in the MTN8 final win over Stellenbosch.

 

The third as a half-time change for star attacker Monnapule Saleng as Pirates were 3-0 down against Magesi but his impact was felt and nearly stole the show, but his last-gasp effort that could have made it 3-3 was ruled out for off-side.

“I think Mohau came in a difficult moment, in a moment of responsibility and he answered in the right way, if we decided to go with Mohau in the second half it’s because we know him very well, we know that moment he’s going through,” Riveiro said when asked by iDiski Times about his half-time change.

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“He’s in a very good space, he’s pushing hard to get minutes and compete for getting minutes in a team like ours. I think he generated problems immediately for the opponent, with one shot on target inside the first three, or four minutes on the field.

“He’s a tricky player to defend, even today where Magesi was… reducing the spaces close to the box, defending very very low. But yeah, Mohau is a player who’s growing fast, he’s one of the players really competing to be on the field.

“That’s why, in this case, the coach decides to give him the responsibility in the moment, that was not the nicest one to come in, but I think he answered ina good way, the same way he did it when he came on against Richards Bay in Durban.

“At 0-0, he contributed to get the three points, so he’s one of the new faces coming in little by little into the team and we need to create that real depth in the squad, not only because you all know there are there, but you don’t see them in the game.

“It was an important game for Mohau, [Salaelo] Rasebotja, Karim [Kimvuidi] as well, to come to the team, little by little.”

Pirates return to league action on Tuesday when they host SuperSport United at the Orlando Stadium.