Modiba vows to excel in 'familiar' midfield position

Mamelodi Sundowns fullback Aubrey Modiba says he won't mind playing in any position in the team as he is comfortable anywhere.

In Sundowns' MTN8 quarterfinal against Polokwane City earlier this month, Modiba was deployed in the middle of the park [No 8 position] alongside Marcello Allende.

It appears the 29-year-old will be played in that position again tonight when they host Stellenbosch in the MTN8 semifinal first leg at Lucas Moripe Stadium (7pm).

Modiba said he was familiar with that position and if coach Manqoba Mngqithi persists with him in midfield, he will deliver. “I’m familiar with the role, the games that we played in the African Football League (AFL), I played that role as an eight,” he said.

“It is not a position that is foreign to me; as an inverted full-back, I used to overload in the midfield. I think I’ve done well, and the coach thinks I can help the team in that role. and I am prepared and learning every day about the role. Hopefully, I can be better and help the team as much as I can. I’m enjoying the role.”

With Sundowns now using a different approach in their style, Modiba said they were getting familiar with how the technical team wants them to play. “Credit must go to the technical team because the new philosophy is going to help the team going forward,” he said.

“We will try to get it right because sometimes we are not comfortable with life changes, so when that change came and the coach said we are going to play like this season, at first we were not sure how it was going to work out.

“Obviously, to perfect that, you need to do that in the games. When we started it was a bit difficult because I did not understand the role that well. But they showed me how to do it and why we do it and we have to believe in that project.

“I started playing more games and understanding the role, with more research, more videos, watching games, [watching] who was playing the same way and learning from that.”

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