JOHANNESBURG - Maritzburg United coach Fadlu Davids is confident that Siphesihle Ndlovu will walk away with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) Young Player of the Season gong at the league's end of season awards ceremony.
Ndlovu (21) has been instrumental for the Team of Choice this season. He has been scooped a lot of Man-of-the-Match awards this season for his impressive displays.
His performances were also recognised by Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter who included him in the squad for the Four Nations tournament in Zambia.
South Africa will fight it out for glory against the hosts Zambia as well as Zimbabwe and Angola during next week's Fifa weekend.
Speaking with the media after they beat National First Division (NFD) outfit Royal Eagles in the last 16 of the Nedbank Cup at Princess Magogo Stadium, Davids made it clear that he believes Ndlovu doesn’t have any competition for the Young Player of the Season.
“I don’t really see anybody challenging him. It is unbelievable what he has achieved so far in term of his performance. He is very good at managing the game. He knows when to slow it down and when to pick up the pace of the game," Davids gushed.
"That’s what he did with 10 men, sometimes you don’t have to play fast but you have to pick up the pace and that's what he has, the understanding and the reading of the game.”
Phakamani Mahlambi was crowned the PSL Young Player of the Season in 2016/17. Other prominent players to have won the award include Keagan Dolly and Rivaldo Coetzee, both of whom have graduated to Bafana.
Ndlovu produced another Man-of-the-Match performance against Eagles.
Congratulations to #TeamofChoice Midfielder Siphesihle Ndlovu on being called up to the @BafanaBafana National Squad for the upcoming 4 Nations Tournament. pic.twitter.com/OxIbHnnmVs
— Maritzburg United FC (@MaritzburgUtd) March 13, 2018
“You can give him any instruction, play on the right, play on the left, overload that side and overload the other side. He does precisely that. He is destined for Europe, I don’t think we should talk about the bigger clubs here in South Africa. We should think about him moving to Europe,” Davids explained.
Ndlovu has already propelled Maritzburg to the semifinals of a cup competition this season. They reached the penultimate stage of the MTN8 where they lost to eventual champions SuperSport United.