TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic wants more commitment from Bafana Bafana star Ethan Brooks if he wants to be given more playing time in the side.
On Saturday, Ramovic unexpectedly substituted the 20-year-old Brooks in the 31st minute of their DStv Premiership clash against Cape Town City which ended 2-2 at Mbombela Stadium over the weekend.
Galaxy somehow managed to come from behind twice to grab the draw and one point.
“Ethan is a great quality player. He’s probably one of the best in SA, but today [on Saturday] it wasn’t his day. So he has to keep going… he has to keep improving. He must prove himself,” Ramovic said after the game.
Ram reiterated he did not give players preferential treatment no matter who they were. Midfielder Brooks has been a star performer in Bafana coach Hugo Broos’s side.
“He’s young and still learning. We will of course help him to continue learning, but the thing is that if he doesn’t help himself, it’ll be tough.
“We have 25 great quality players and everybody has to fight for his place, that also applies to Ethan,” said Ramovic.
The coach admitted they had started badly in the game against City, conceding a goal in the first minute then equalising two minutes later through Mxolisi Macuphu.
“We didn’t start well. We can’t concede a goal after just one minute, so we have to rectify this. We have to start the game with a lot of energy,” said Ramovic.
“After conceding very early, we came back and scored (89th minute). I am sure that if the game continued beyond 90 minutes, we would have scored a third goal,” he added.
