'Sundowns is not a small team' - Safranko on fighting for a starting berth

Mamelodi Sundowns forward Pavol Safranko made a welcome return to action from injury in the Nedbank Cup on Saturday and scored in the 5-0 thumping of Summerfield Dynamos at Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium.

Safranko came on in the 79th minute after replacing forward Neo Maema, and a minute later, he scored Sundowns' fifth goal of the quarter-final clash.

In February, the 27-year-old Slovakian forward got injured during the international break, and after Saturday's return to action, he told media he had felt good on the pitch and enjoyed scoring.

"I feel fine, I haven't played in a long time because I was injured, so it was nice to be on the pitch and to score," Safranko told the Sundowns site.

"Sundowns is not a small team, we have very good players, and if you're out for even one day, the next four guys are waiting for their chance, and they will play well.

"It's not that easy to come back, but I will do my best and work hard."

The forward gave credit to his team-mates for the goal after receiving a quality pass from Gaston Sirino.

"Credit must go to the coaching staff, as well as the analysts," Safranko added.

"When we watched this team's videos, they said in the set-pieces, more especially the free kicks, the far post is always free, so I was thinking about it, and Gaston gave me the perfect pass, and it was not so hard to score from this."