Gladwin Shitolo has provided detail to his situation at Golden Arrows, where he has his former teammates Mabhudi Khenyeza and Musa Bilankulu as coaches.
Shitolo is leading Arrows as captain in his 16th season playing in the professional ranks through a journey that started out at Jomo Cosmos.
READ: 'I'm not scared to say that I drink'
The 35-year-old is now settled permanently at the club, where he has been on three loan spells before while under contract at Orlando Pirates.
"I played with coach Mabhudi and coach Musa, so for me, it gives me that comfort to be myself and keep on doing what I do," says Shitolo.
"There is no way I can forget myself because they know me.
"If I make mistakes and lower my standards, then they will remind me and tell me that 'clearly this is not you, we know you can do better'.
"That is how it is for me," says Shitolo, pointing out how Khenyeza has carried on from where Steve Komphela left off.
"What helped is that the coaches, who are coach Mabhudi, Musa and KG (Kagisho Dikgacoi), didn't change anything but continued with the structure of coach Steve as an experienced coach.
"They took whatever was his foundation and worked on it," he says.
Shitolo is hopeful that Arrows could turn this season into success by adding their second ever top-flight silverware in the Carling Knockout, which starts against Mamelodi Sundowns.
READ | Petersen discusses life after Khune at Chiefs
"For us, this is an opportunity to achieve something.
"We are motivated already for Sundowns and there are no words needed.
"There is no motivational speaker needed because we are already motivated by the fixture," says Shitolo.