Orlando Pirates defender Olisa Ndah relives 10-month long injury ordeal

Ndah suffered an injury that kept him out for 10 months overall until he bounced back on Saturday night as a replacement for teammate Nkosinathi Sibisi, who had to be taken off following a concussion in the MTN8 final against Mamelodi Sundowns.

READ: Rulani Mokwena reveals Peter Shalulile played injured in MTN8 final

The last time Ndah played was in the Soweto Derby in February when he scored an own goal to hand Kaizer Chiefs a victory and then relapsed.  

Ndah spoke for the first time about his ordeal.

"I don't think about the derby really, it affected me for a couple of days and I wasn't truly bothered about what was going on outside. I was more bothered about my team mates and working to come back stronger. In our team it's healthy competition, I don't think we pray for anything back to happen to one another," Ndah said.

The Super Eagles star was linked with a possible move to the Italian Serie A, but Ndah finally got to set the record straight.

"I don't think I had a conversation with the chairman or anybody in the office. Apart from that, the chairman, motivated me a lot because they knew what I was going through since February. So, ya, they really supported me. I didn't have any thoughts of leaving," Ndah explained.

Riveiro revealed Ndah – a crowd favourite – would have been needed at some point during the game, but having to use him 34 minutes in came with some concerns.

"We were working a lot with him. He was working a lot to be ready for this game. Finally, he's fully fit and ready to perform. 

We knew that at some point probably he's gonna be needed in the game. Not that early because like I said, once Olisa was on the field, we were a bit afraid because we only have Shandu [Bandile] and then Hotto [Deon] in that role as a left fullback because like I said Paseka [Mako] couldn't be ready on time."