Durban - AmaZulu midfielder Pule Ekstein, who recently returned to the first team picture, is relishing the chance to come up against his former club Kaizer Chiefs when the two sides meet on Friday.
Ekstein, 32, was ordered to train with the club’s development team alongside Thabo Qalinge during coach Brandon Truter’s tenure at the club.
The appointment of Romain Folz offered an opportunity for the pair to reintroduce themselves into the first team set-up.
Ekstein has grabbed his chance with both hands, impressing massively while his team continues to struggle for results.
Folz spoke highly of Ekstein when his side went down to Royal AM last Sunday, claiming the dynamic midfielder was one of his best players in an otherwise poor showing on the day.
Usuthu have switched focus to their next match against Soweto giants Chiefs and Pule, a graduate of the Chiefs academy, has admitted that both clubs’ recent struggles make their next meeting an interesting one.
“Playing Chiefs will not be an easy task because of the way they're playing and they're also coming off a loss, so both teams are looking to get maximum points. I think it's going to be an entertaining game and I hope the best team on the day will win and that's obviously gonna be us,” said a smiling Pule.
Ekstein, who recently played his first 90 minutes of the season, expressed his joy at being afforded the opportunity by Folz to prove himself.
'I'm happy because the coach told me that he's giving me a chance and coming back from the MDC team, he said I should show that I know how to play football and I'm trying every day to reward the faith he has in me,” he explained.
He then added: “For me personally, I wasn’t in an unfamiliar place because something similar happened to me in the past where I was placed with the MDC team even though I played with the first team. So it was all about having a strong mentality, focus and knowing what you want, so for me it wasn’t that difficult actually.”
AmaZulu will need all of Ekstein’s experience and creative juice as the KwaZulu Natal side continues to struggle for goals and requisite results.
Their next test against a leaky Amakhosi defence at the Moses Mabhida Stadium (7.30pm) might present the perfect opportunity for Usuthu to turn the corner.
@SmisoScribe