Gcaba delivered a good performance and was on the score sheet when Pirates beat Kaizer Chiefs 3-1 on Saturday at FNB Stadium, but Tinkler says he has been just as impressive in recent matches.
“Ayanda has always been put under a lot of pressure at the club and basically, I sat down with him and explained that he needs to try to go back to the basics; play the game that he knows and play to his strengths which is vitally important,” he says.
“And I have a lot of trust and belief in him, and he feels that hence he’s producing the performances. It is definitely not the first game that he’s played exceptionally well and he’s got on the score sheet in a couple of games. I’m very proud of the performances he’s producing which is something he struggled with in the past.
“If you go back to last season and the season before, Ayanda would come in and play one or two games then his form would drop which shows the lack of consistency in his form but that has improved tremendously. And now he’s almost the first name on my team sheet,” Tinkler adds.
Gcaba has now made 79 appearances for the Buccaneers and scored six goals since his move from Free State Stars in 2012.