Samir Nurkovic ticked all the fitness boxes upon his return to competitive football on Sunday after putting in a full shift.

On a day when TS Galaxy also gave another Serbian striker Vladimir Siladji, Nurkovic lasted 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Richards Bay.

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Siladji last played competitive football at the end of May for FK Mladost Lucani back home.

Prior to returning home last season, the 30-year-old had stints with clubs in South Korea and Vietnam where he won silverware.

Siladji's best return was in the 2019/20 season when he was joint top scorer in the Serbian Super League.

With regards to Nurkovic, his debut for TS Galaxy was the first competitive match that he has played in 17 months. 

The 31-year-old last had official minutes in the colours for Kaizer Chiefs on May 8, 2022, against Mamelodi Sundowns when he came on for Lazarous Kambole with 16 minutes remaining.

Nurkovic's last full shift of 90 minutes came in the previous month (April 2022) against his current employers.

Yet on Sunday, TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic has reason to keep Nurkovic on the pitch from start to finish as he harassed the opposition with his trademark powerful play.

Galaxy have a scoring crisis this season having managed to bang a mere three goals (the lowest in the league) from seven games and will hope Nurkovic provides some of the solutions in attack where they also have Thamsanqa Gabuza, Higor Vidal, and Bernard Parker.

Nurkovic still has a pending unfair dismissal case against Royal AM which has now been escalated to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

That case has so far led to a transfer ban being imposed on Royal AM. 

After his ugly departure from Royal AM and prior to arriving at TS Galaxy, Nurkovic trained with Cape Town City and Raja Casablanca.

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