Eric Tinkler commends Sekhukhune United's Lebohang Phiri as a modern professional since arriving at Betway Premiership side as a free agent

Eric Tinkler has lauded new signing Lebohang Phiri’s work ethic at Sekhukhune United.

Phiri signed with Babina Noko as a free agent with the hope of helping the Limpopo side make a decent challenge to the PSL title.

So far the former Paris FC midfielder has been influential for Tinkler’s side as they are third on the PSL standings and are also through to the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals.

They are on three points behind second placed Sundowns and six adrift of table toppers Orlando Pirates.

“We signed Lebo, and he was out of contract for eight months and yes, he is a hard-working professional,” Tinkler told the media.

“He tried to keep himself in good fit condition, but you can never replicate what you do in a gym running 10KM every day is never going to replicate what a full match represents.

“And truth be told, we kind of threw him in the deep end because we had to and, but we done it, in my opinion, in the right way. We looked at what minutes he could achieve, and we played him those specific minutes, and they were and I can actually give the game against Highbury as an example, where you could see that Lebo had reached that plateau where we pushed him too hard in those four matches, that his body just couldn’t cope anymore because of the space in between the games and the lack of recovery that is required.

“But I’ve known Lebo since he was 12 years old, and the Lebo of today is no different to the Lebo when he was young, he’s a highly committed professional, hardworking and someone who is still himself. He hasn’t changed since he became a professional and had the career that he had in Europe, he’s still the same guy that I remember when he was 12/13 all the way till he was 18 years old, before he moved over to Brondby.”