'Saleng's absence disturbed the team' – Ex-Orlando Pirates star

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Former Orlando Pirates winger Lebohang Mokoena says the absence of Monnapule Saleng has affected the Buccaneers in the second half of the season.

Saleng hasn’t played a match for the Sea Robbers since December last year. The 27-year-old has had a good start to the 2024/25 season helping Pirates to their third successive MTN8 title. His lack of gametime in January posed a lot of questions.

After three months, Saleng finally played a match but it was not with Orlando Pirates. He was called to the Bafana Bafana squad for the CHAN qualifiers earlier this month and played one match. Mokoena believes the situation with Saleng has affected the Buccaneers.

“You know, talking from experience, you don’t want to see a fellow teammate that’s always playing and contributing to the team go through such because it does cause a ripple effect. Because now, if you look at the current Pirates squad, you had a Tito [Patrick Maswangany] if he’s on song, he would really bring it on and make Pirates win,” he said as per iDiski Times.

Saleng still not training with Orlando Pirates

“You have Rele [Mofokeng] but now, Tito’s out, Saleng has been out. So, all the pressure goes to Rele and Mabasa for them to deliver. That’s only one or two players.

“So, you really need the other players. So I think that really distracted the team a bit, and I was hoping that in the beginning, they would have resolved it early, just before we got to the halfway mark, so that Saleng can get back onto the field,” Mokoena added.

The former Orlando Pirates winger said the more the buccaneers win, the more they will forget about Saleng.

“And it’s not happening, and the more Pirates win, the more they’ll forget about their star player and start searching for another player. But I think a lesson was learned from them for this season.

“But yeah, as for Saleng, I think it’s just clear, and I’ve said it before, the most important thing is to honour your contract and go play football. Let God deal with the rest and let your agent deal with the rest, while at least you are on the field of play and participating,” Mokoena said.

Saleng is still under contract with Orlando Pirates but it remains to be seen whether the 27-year-old would still be with the Soweto giants next season.