Stellenbosch FC coach Gavin Hunt on deploying Olisah Ndah in central midfield as they beat Chippa United 2-1 at Athlone Stadium in a PSL tie

Gavin Hunt praised Stellenbosch FC’s debutant Olisah Ndah in their 2-0 win over Chippa United in a Betway Premiership match.

Hunt deployed Ndah in an unfamiliar central midfield role which is new to the former Orlando Pirates central defender.

Hunt said Ndah is a quality player and he knew he would fit the position as they were short of central midfielder yesterday at Athlone Stadium.

“You have to ask him, he’ll tell you, he’s a decent footballer. But he hasn’t played for a long time,” said Hunt after on loan Pirates striker Tshegofatso Mabasa scored a brace to see them into the top eight.

“So I said to him, look, we don’t really have midfield players available. We had one on the bench, central midfield players, so I am going to play you there. It’s easier for you; you are not going to be under pressure, there is less pressure there, and he got on the ball, he can pass, and he can play.

“But obviously, he hasn’t played football in a long time. I didn’t want to break the back four that we had for the last couple of games, and there is a good old saying, – don’t make too many changes to make a change,” he explained.

“So I didn’t want to change the back four and make a change. So I just made one change and put him in there. It sounds clever, but I had to do something, you know. You can’t just do nothing, and he was the best option for us.

“I think he took a little bit of time to get in there because the ball is a little bit quick, and when you haven’t played, you know, you lose the timing of the speed of the game, and he lost it a bit. But I think as the game went on, he was okay.”