Mooki who is second in line behind Doctor Khumalo on the all time appearance list for Chiefs, began the season brightly and played in Chiefs opening four league games until he damaged his hamstring during a training session and has been working his way back to full fitness since the middle of September.

Mooki who turns 33 later this month, was overjoyed at being given the news by team physiotherapist David Milner, that he will resume full training on Monday and as a result will be in contention for a place in the Chiefs line up on the 21st October for The Amakhosi’s game against Platinum Stars in Rustenburg.

Not the place to be

A former Bafana Bafana midfielder, Mooki joined Chiefs more than thirteen years ago in early 1994 the midfield tactician has in recent seasons been hit by a number of injuries. He is looking forward to getting some game time again and is hoping to stay as far away from the treatment room as possible, as he commented “I hate being injured having to sit in the physio’s room every day while the guys are training can be really depressing”. He went on to say, “being injured can really get you down the important thing in over coming an injury is to remain mentally strong and be focused in ensuring that you are 100% fit when you return”.

Beneficial time

With his 33rd birthday looming large, the man who has through his thirteen year stay at the club played in 374 matches, wants to see as much game time as he can over the remainder of the season as the sand slips through the hour glass on his illustrious career. “I am at the stage in my career when I need to be playing as much as I can, being on the other side of thirty means that I do not have many seasons left. Prior to this set back I was really enjoying my game this term and now that I am past this minor hiccup, I am focused on getting back out there and featuring in as many games as I can”.

Faster and Stronger

While his recent hamstring problem has meant that Thabo has had to sit on the sidelines, he has not sat by passing time and was hard at work improving his physical conditioning.

“I feel really positive about the shape I am in at the moment I put in a lot of extra effort in to ensuring that when I return to action, I am fitter then I was prior to the injury” was Mooki’s retort. He concluded by saying “when you get to my age and if you want to last longer than the younger guys you need to take extra care of your body, because your recovery time from injury is longer than it was a few seasons ago it also means that you have to physically stronger to be able to cope with the knocks and bumps”.