Former Orlando Pirates winger Thabo Qalinge made his debut for SuperSport United on Sunday afternoon, and head coach Kaitano Tembo claims the player will have an important role to play.
Read: Gabuza Continues MTN8 Form As SuperSport Hold Downs
Mamelodi Sundowns currently have the edge over SuperSport following the 1-1 draw in the first leg of their MTN8 semi-final at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
Qalinge was introduced in the final 10 minutes of the second half, but Tembo is optimistic the winger will play his part this season.
"He's been unfortunate with injuries but we need to bring him in gradually, he's going to play an important role. You know in the last ten minutes Evans Rusike was getting tired, so we wanted 'Section' to get behind [Tebogo] Langerman because he started to go forward when Rusike got tired," Tembo told SuperSport after the game. " With a little bit of luck and [better] decision-making, he could have created an opportunity for us," he concluded. On the actual game, Tembo felt his side had created enough chances to go on and win the game. "We had chances to win the game, first half we dominated. I was a little bit disappointed with the goal we conceded, because critical phases of the game, soon after scoring, we conceded," he added. "The critical phases of the game, where we're supposed to be focused, we went to sleep there and they got an equaliser. But other than that, I think we played a good game today. We created chances to win the game but there's still another 90 minutes, it's not over yet,"
