Former Orlando Pirates star Monnapule Saleng 'wants to keep winning' after making his Mamelodi Sundowns debut - 'It has been a while'

Bafana Bafana international Monnapule Saleng was sent on loan to the Mswenko Boys at the beginning of the season after falling out with the Orlando Pirates management.

In the 13 games he played for the Premier Soccer League debutants, Saleng managed to get two goals and three assists.

In what remains a surprising move, Sundowns went for the winger, and Bucs did not hesitate to sell him.  

Saleng was named on the bench on Sunday in the PSL against Sekhukhune United at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

With the game tied 1-1, he was introduced in place of Tashreeq Matthews, and within a minute, he played a crucial role to help Iqraam Rayners make it 2-1 in favour of the hosts.

The game eventually ended 3-1 as the defending champions went level on points with Orlando Pirates, who, a day before, had beaten Kaizer Chiefs 3-0 in the Soweto derby.

“I want to thank the coach, the technical team, and the players. The preparation was good, since training and coming into the game, and I need to thank [Miguel Cardoso] for giving me the opportunity to play,” he told the club's media team.

“The fans made me feel welcome; it’s been a while since they’ve seen me play. I was happy, and I appreciate the reception from the supporters. I’d also like to thank the captain, Themba Zwane, and all the players for encouraging me in training.

“I just want to continue winning, that’s the only thing I want us to do, and that’s the most important thing. It feels good for me – this is a team that always strives to win. I’m happy to be able to contribute amongst the three goals that were scored. It shows that I also have something to offer this team going forward," Saleng concluded.

Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso was impressed with the winger and hinted at where he will use him in future assignments.

"Well, Saleng did well; he is a player who has high quality and outcomes in those duels, and he can play outside on the right or left – you know him even better than me," he told the media.

"Fortunately, I just started to work with him very recently because he was injured, but he made a fantastic recovery, and we never wanted to put pressure on his comeback.

"And we still should not because obviously he's recovered, but he's still getting conditioning and understanding what we want from him – he can play out [wide] and inside, so don't get surprised if you see him having different positions on the pitch," Cardoso concluded.