Nkosingiphile Ngcobo is looking forward to a better season with Kaizer Chiefs after undergoing a preseason with the club in the Netherlands where he learnt a few things in the five training matches they played.
The midfielder featured in some of the matches Chiefs played against Utrecht, Vitesse, Twente FC, PEC Zwolle and NEC Breda.
“Personally, I feel good, I improved in some respects,” said Ngcobo.
“I learnt a lot in this camp and also as a team we have learnt and improved. For me, I have improved and I think the supporters will get the Mshini [his nickname] they know but with improvements.”
Amakhosi return to South Africa to start preparing for their final preseason official friendly — a Toyota Cup clash against Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on July 26.
Chiefs, who finished ninth on the Betway Premiership log last season under Tunisian mentor Nasreddine Nabi, open their league campaign on August 10 away to Stellenbosch FC at the Athlone Stadium according to provisional fixtures.
Ngcobo said the trip to the Netherlands was an eye-opener and most players can't want to show in their game against Kotoko how prepared they are for the coming season.
“The games we played were good, they showed our strengths and our weaknesses. We will go home to work on the weaknesses and also improve on our strengths, but it was important to have played those games.
“Preseason training is hard because we trained twice a day, played a few matches and it was tough, but that's how the preseason is supposed to be.”
Ngcobo, 25, who featured 12 times in 28 games for Chiefs in the league last season, added the five games were vital in fine-tuning them for the coming season where they're expected to improve, with Nabi having had time to improve the squad with more than five new players.
“These games were important in helping us see where we are and understand. Now we have confidence and we're looking forward to our game against Kotoko. We are going to make sure we give our best.
“We can't wait to be in front of our supporters, to play in front of them”
Ngcobo promised Chiefs fans they will see a better team than the one they had last season, which battled in the league for consistent results.
“I think they [fans] should expect what they have been wanting, the beautiful football and goals, team spirit, a strong team that will fight in the league.”
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