Ditlhokwe move to Chiefs a blow to SuperSport, says Hlatshwayo

SuperSport United defender Thulani Hlatshwayo is optimistic about the upcoming season despite losing his defensive partner Thatayaone “TT” Ditlhokwe who has joined DStv Premiership rivals Kaizer Chiefs.

Hlatshwayo and Ditlhokwe formed a solid partnership in central defence to help the Tshwane-based side finish third in the league last season and in the process secured their ticket to play in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Matsatsantsa a Pitori open their domestic account against Richards Bay at Polokwane’s Peter Mokaba Stadium next week Saturday and Hlatshwayo is looking forward to the challenge.

“Obviously, it’s a blow to the team to lose my central partner TT. The coach has been pairing me with different players, including a youngster called Ime Okon,” the 33-year-old said.

“I think he has been doing so well and I think he played towards the end of last season in the Diski Challenge games. I also played 65 minutes in a friendly with Luke Fleurs. Hopefully when the season starts, we will have a partnership.

“I think it’s Luke’s time now and he needs to step it up because when I joined the team, it was him and TT playing. There were rumours that Luke is going to Chiefs but they ended up snatching TT. I’ve been having conversations with Luke telling him ‘you have a lot of potential and it’s time for you to step up now’ we have Grant Magerman and Siphesihle Ndlovu in the middle who have given us a lot of balance.”

The former Bafana Bafana captain’s experience is going to be a key in Gavin Hunt team as they will have to navigate their domestic schedule and traveling on the continent for their Confederation Cup commitments.

“We know it’s going to be difficult but it will also be an experience for our youngsters because the coach took them for our pre-season camp in Durban,” Hlatshwayo said.

“They have done so well and showed that they want to take it a step higher from the DDC team but we don’t know if everything is done with their registration with the team.

“We have lost a lot of senior players in the team but we have added too like Phathutshezdo Nange and Terrence Dzvukamanja. With the traveling and having to play a lot of our home games in Polokwane, it is going to be a taxing season. Hopefully we will have enough squad members to go for every competition.”