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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

McCLIVE Phiri made a winning debut at his new South African Premiership side Bidvest Wits in Monday night’s Nedbank Cup quarter-final and implored his former Highlanders’ teammates to embrace discipline and hard work while waiting to move to greener pastures.

Phiri signed a performance based two-year deal with Wits at the beginning of the month and played 90 minutes in their 2-0 win over Norman Mapeza’s Chippa United in Johannesburg. 

In his first interview since joining the great trek down south, the former Highlanders’ right-back, who had a jittery first-half before improving in the second-half, thanked Bosso for affording him the opportunity to shine.

“I think it won’t be proper for me to move and not thank Highlanders for the opportunity they gave me resulting in Bidvest Wits’ interest in my services. I want to thank the club, management, technical team and players, as well as the wonderful fans for the love they gave me during my two years at the club. I value every minute I spent at Highlanders and wish them well,” he told Chronicle Sport.

“To my former teammates at Bosso, I say discipline on and off the field as well as hard work got me this far. As such, I urge the guys to work hard, be disciplined and wait for opportunities to come your way. I have no doubt that Highlanders can compete for the championship because those guys are fighters, a fantastic group and they understand each other, having been together for a while”.

Phiri, who was part of the locally based Warriors squad that qualified for the 2020 Chan finals to be hosted by Cameron in April, said he is settling well at Wits.

“All is well at my new home and I’ve been treated as if I’ve been at the club all along. My teammates have been great. Against Chippa I didn’t have the best start to the game because I was a little bit nervous, as I wanted to impress and avoid mistakes. When we went to the dressing room, my teammates told me to relax, do like I do at training and enjoy the game. Now that I’ve played a competitive game, I just want to build on this opportunity, take each game as it comes and enjoy myself,” he said.

Phiri overcame a nasty injury that ruled him out of action for 12 weeks last season after fracturing his right humerus, the bone between the elbow and shoulder, in Bosso’s goalless draw against Herentals at Barbourfields Stadium on May 19. 

This was after he crashed against a pole after being pushed by Herentals midfielder Tinotenda Benza.

“What that injury layoff did was to make me mentally stronger and now I can face anything. My family really supported me during my injury and when an opportunity came for me to go for trials at Wits, they prayed for me.

“I want to keep working hard at training and do well when given a chance. Obviously, I want to be a regular in the team and once I’ve fully settled, I’ll be eying a national team call-up again,” Phiri said. – @ZililoR