The reality facing Sibongiseni Mthethwa at Kaizer Chiefs will demand for the midfielder to dig deeper in convincing Nasreddine Nabi to hand him game-time after pulling the handbrake on his proposed loan move.
Mthethwa has only been at Chiefs for a year but was unfortunate to have arrived when the club was sinking in crisis last season.
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Whatever it is that the side saw in the bulky midfield man while he was at Stellenbosch FC couldn't be replicated upon arriving in Johannesburg South from the Cape Winelands.
From the 20 appearances that he made, 'Ox' only put in full shifts in half those matches – an element of concern for a holding midfielder.
He wasn't used in another seven games.
With all the changes that have since happened during the off-season with Nabi taking over, it has become evident that Mthethwa has been moved backwards in the queue.
Yusuf Maart, Samkelo Zwane, Edson Castillo and Njabulo Blom will have preference for the two central midfield slots.
This is why the Soweto giants then made him available to prospective clubs as third choice, who included Chippa United and Magesi FC.
Instead of agreeing to leave on loan, the 30-year-old has chosen to stay and will want to fight his way back to relevance and hopefully prove why he was once in the Bafana Bafana selection basket.
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Mthethwa's contract with Chiefs will run up to June 2026.
What the bearded midfielder will now face with the team will put his tenacity to test having grown accustomed to regular minutes at his two previous clubs – Stellies and Black Leopards.