New Highlands Park defender Eddie Ngalo is relishing the opportunity to work with two men who were his former employers at the old Silver Stars (now Platinum Stars). The 33-year-old central defender started his professional career at Stars under the mentorship of coach Allan Freese and the club’s then-managing director Larry Brookstone.It was the prospect of rekindling these relations that convinced Ngalo to put pen to paper on his deal with the premiership newbies.After being an integral part of Mpumalanga Black Aces last season‚ Ngalo was set to continue in the role after the club was bought over by John Comitis and relocated to the Mother City as renamed Cape Town City last month. However‚ after he was approached by Freese and Brookstone‚ Ngalo decided to join the Tembisa-based Highlands Park.“The owners know me. If you remember‚ they were the owners of Silver Stars when I was still playing for that club. So it was not a big issue joining them‚” Ngalo‚ who was named among 12 new signings for the Lions of the North‚ said.“They called me before their playoffs and asked me that whatever decision I was looking to make I should hold on just a bit because they wanted me to come back home.“For me‚ it took about a week or so to think about it. Immediately after they won promotion‚ after the game‚ they called me. I came to Joburg and they convinced me to join them.”There were also attempts by the new Cape Town City to retain his services.After deciding to sign with Highlands‚ Ngalo describes it as a bitter-sweet decision.“I’m excited and very privileged to play for Highlands Park. If you look‚ they have a huge history in South African football‚ so the decision to join them was not that difficult‚” he said. “It was an option [to remain at Cape Town City]. We were busy with negotiations with Cape Town City‚ but when this opportunity came‚ one part [of me] was happy and one part was not. They wanted me to go to Cape Town‚ but unfortunately we didn’t come to [agree on] terms.”Having had PSL experience from also playing with the now defunct Bay United and most recently Aces in the PSL‚ Ngalo believes he has some knowledge to impart onto his teammates at the newly-promoted Highlands.He also expects to learn a few tricks from his new teammates too.“I want to bring a winning mentality. If you look at it‚ people assume that we are newcomers‚ but when you look at our players‚ we are not newcomers. So we need to have that mentality going into each and every game wanting to win‚ no matter which team we are playing‚” he said.“If we have that mentality‚ then anything can happen. I’m prepared to learn from them and work well together.“What we are here for is to help those guys who need help‚ but we must learn from them also because they have their own experiences. Even if a player is 22 years old or 21‚ we can learn from them. If they are prepared to learn‚ then we can go far.” - TMG Digital..