AmaZulu midfielder Hendrick Ekstein says Benni McCarthy doesn't play favourites when picking his teams.
The 31-year-old has experience of both local and foreign coaches from five seasons with Kaizer Chiefs and a spell in Azerbaijan with Sabah FK.
He returned to the DStv Premiership with Usuthu this season and has welcomed the professionalism demanded of him and his teammates from head coach McCarthy.
McCarthy of course learned his managerial skills from his time playing in Europe, before completing his coaching badges through the Union of European Football Associations.
Ekstein told Soccer Laduma: “One thing I can describe about coach Benni and all the coaches who are at AmaZulu, they want us to work hard!
“Their dream is for the players to work hard and play for the coach and the one thing I love about coach Benni is that he doesn’t play you because you are Pule Ekstein and you are from overseas in Azerbaijan, no. He plays you because he can see that you are working hard at training, not because of your name and so on.”
“He always wants players to work harder than they are working.”
Last season’s top-flight runners-up are currently fifth on the league standings.
They are next in action on 11 February against Raja Casablanca in the CAF Champions League group stages.
