Celtics coach assures Mongala of game time

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Thursday September 8, 2011 00:00

 

Mongala joined Celtic on a season's loan deal from South African champions, Orlando Pirates, early last month.Although he is yet to make his official debut for Celtic, Mongala has impressed in all of the club's friendly matches to the extent that his new boss is confident he will command a regular starting place this season. 'He didn't get game time at Pirates because they had four left wingers, but we know him from when he first arrived.

We saw qualities that, as a club, we liked - he's got pace and skill and all our attacking players we try and build them around those qualities.'

'He's also got international experience so we feel that he'll fit in very well into the way we play at Celtic. We look forward to having him play his first game. We are busy with his permit at the moment and we hope to have it ready by next week so he plays his first game,' he told Mmegi Sport.

The diminutive winger was sidelined all season as Pirates bagged a treble last term under coach, Rudolf Krol. He had joined from First Division side, Pretoria University after an impressive spell during the 2008 Nedbank Cup.

Despite last season's setback, Larson said the former Township Rollers winger's confidence was high.'I don't think he's got problems with his confidence, he's in a set up where he knows that the coaches believe in him and I think that makes all the difference. He's also been training with me for over a month and understands how we do things. He's played well in the friendly games and his form is good,' he said.

Mongala played a part as the Zebras secured a maiden berth in the AFCON finals and the current development will certainly bring joy to Zebras' mentor, Stanley Tshosane. Mongala reportedly told Pirates that he wanted to move in order to get regular game time ahead of the AFCON finals, which kick off on January 23 in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.