Since making a dream move from Free State Stars to Kaizer Chiefs at the start of the year Siphiwe Tshabalala has spent most of the time recovering from a knee injury. Kaizer Chiefs were aware of his injury but the club wasted no time in signing him up when the opportunity arose.

Given his talents as a midfield playmaker of note, it was mentioned when he teamed up with The Amakhosi back in February that he was a long term acquisition and that the club would help him work his way back to full fitness. With Chiefs pre season preparations well underway, Tshabalala has had the opportunity to get some game time in recent friendly games against Black Leopards and Tottenham Hotspurs.

While Tshabalala works his way to full - match - fitness what has come to the fore is his immense talent, and he has shown glimpses of the kind of play that saw him become a Bafana Bafana regular while still competing with Stars in the Mvela Golden League.

Kaizerchiefs.com got hold of the dynamic midfield playmaker high above the ground as he and his teammates journeyed on Monday afternoon from Durban to Port Elizabeth for Chiefs Vodacom play off match against Orlando Pirates on Thursday evening.

KC.COM: Siphiwe how does it feel to finally get some game time under your belt, after months of having to watch from the sidelines as you worked your way back from injury?

Siphiwe Tshabalala: It feels as though a whole lot has been taken off my shoulders and I feel much lighter now, I am just glad to have had those couple of minutes in both games on the field.

The time which I have had on the field has helped me gauge how my healing process went as well as seeing how I cope with a match situation. From the amount of time I have had, it has most definitely been good for me.

Most importantly I have come out from both games without any problems from my previous injury. That coupled with the fact that I was able to give a decent account of myself in both matches has most definitely been a boost to my confidence.

KC.COM: How long did it take you to get into the game, in the two matches that you have played so far?

ST: I did not have too much time against Black Leopards the idea there was for me to just get a run out and find my bearings, I do feel that once I had my first touch of the ball everything else thereafter was fine.

Once you have been out for so long you begin to feel down and depressed, but I had to psyche myself up and I knew that moving to Chiefs was always in my plans and I now had the opportunity to play for the club I supported as a young boy.

So I just gradually got into the game with regards to the Spurs game I was just itching to get onto the field, its not every day that you get to play against a team from the English Premier League.

As a footballer you always like to judge yourself against some of the best players in the world and I was eager to get involved in the game and give a good account for myself.

KC.COM: Do you feel that you personally and the team as a whole were able to give a good account for themselves against Spurs?

ST: Personally I feel with the amount of time I do feel that I was able to hold my own, the game was being played at a frantic pace and it did not take me long to adapt and I was quickly into the rhythm of the game.

As a team I felt that we were unlucky not to have beaten Spurs. We basically gave them as good as we got, we had a number of chances to have won the game and we were unable to convert them. Spurs took advantage of our mistakes and punished us, overall we gave them a good fight and there are a lot of positives that we can take out of the game.

KC.COM: Pirates are next on the agenda for Chiefs. Are you hopeful of getting a longer run out then you did in the last two pre – season games?

ST: Obviously this is not up to me. The coach will decide who plays and who does not, from my side I would like to perhaps start the game or come on at half time I would like to try and finish one half of a match.

That I believe is the next step in the process as I fight my way back, once I have achieved that hopefully I can get more game time in the final on Saturday and then try to play a full match in the Telkom Charity Cup.

KC.COM: How is the general mood in the camp at the moment and is the team confident that they can notch up a win against Pirates and successfully defend the Vodacom Challenge?

KC.COM: All the guys are really happy at the moment there is a good spirit amongst the group and as much as there is competition for places in the team, I do feel that thanks to the coach the group works as a tightly knit unit.

We have been doing a lot of social activities together, we went down to the beach on Sunday while we were in Durban and the guys enjoyed the outing. Messing about in the water playing the kind of games you did when you were a teenager. We have a good balance of work and play which has helped us to get to know each other better. In addition to being teammates - we are also friends.

I must say that in recent times there is a lot of chatter amongst the guys and overall there exists a general desire to be successful amongst all the guys, which means that we are all on the same page focused on ensuring that the team succeeds. As it stands I do see this group of guys going places and winning a number of trophies together.