Kaizer Chiefs' rising star Samkelo Zwane has been advised to follow the example of two Bafana Bafana legends after struggling to secure game-time at the club last season.
The emergence of Zwane was one of the few silver linings in a disappointing 2022/23 campaign for Chiefs, one that saw them finish fifth in the standings without a piece of silverware to boast of.
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The midfielder had come through the club's academy ranks and impressed in the DStv Diski Challenge team, prompting then-senior team head coach Arthur Zwane to take the gamble of promoting him.
Young Zwane went on to make 15 appearances.
His second season, however, was disastrous. he did not start a single match the entire season, during Molefi Ntseki and Cavin Johnson's respective tenures.
Speaking to journalists at the funeral of Bucs icon Stanley Tshabalala last week, Eugene Zwane - father of Samkelo – a former footballer himself, urged his son to look to two Bafana legends.
"We have been down this path. The two most prominent examples of players he can relate to, and I always share that information with him, are Teko Modise and Themba Zwane.
"When they broke out in the first team, they were not starters," the Bucs legend said.
"They even got loaned to other teams, but they came back. Look at where they are now, they are two of the most consistent performers over the past decade or so and they are also two of the best players we have seen in this country.
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"When they started, they struggled a bit. Sometimes it is not because they didn't work hard and didn't show potential but because there were other players perhaps that were performing and the coach preferred them.
"Just accept that it's not yet your time, keep working hard and your time will come."
Chiefs are set to take on Tanzania champions Young Africans on Sunday at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.