SuperSport United defender Kegan Johannes returned to the team in their last DStv Premiership match after recovering from an ankle injury a few weeks ago.

The national under23 squad skipper made his return felt as he put in some solid performances against Royal AM (United won 3-1) at home last week.

“It was a great result for the team and was also great to be back in the squad after quite some time.  The recovery has been great, thanks to our medical staff who made sure that the necessary steps and preparations are followed in order for me to return to play,” said Johannes at his hotel room in Mbombela.

Johannes was involved in Matsatsantsa’s first goal following a brilliant assist to centre-forward Bradly Grobler on the left in their first goal.

“These are the things we practice on a daily basis, so as a full back these are the type of areas I want to exploit week in and week out. These are the results of our efforts on the pitch during training and it finally brought some dividends,” said the defender.

Matsatsantsa are going into the next match highly motivated following their last convincing home victory in Tshwane and a win against Galaxy FC tonight will see them collecting some more maximum points on the road. The match kicks off at 6pm.

“It’s always good going into the next game having won your previous one but then again this one is completely different. We are facing new opponents with a different game-plan so we obviously have to do our due diligence and prepare properly,”

However, this is not going to be an easy one for United as Galaxy are a tough nut to crack, particularly in their own backyard.

“Galaxy are a difficult side to play, but for us we don’t focus so much on the opponent, with all due respect.  We focus on ourselves and our game-plan and how we approach the game,” said the Cape Town-born-defender.

United will rely on players such as skipper Thulani Hlatshwayo, Grant Margeman, Terence Dzvukamanja, Etiosa Ighodaro and forward Grobler.

Meanwhile Johannes congratulated the national senior Rugby squad following their fourth Rugby World Cup triumph last weekend in France.

“The Boks’ hard fought Rugby World Cup final victory really made us proud as a country and we obviously hope to now go on and wish the national senior Cricket squad well in their World Cup quest as well,” concluded Johannes.