Mamelodi Sundowns attacking midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi says he is itching to feel the ball under his feet and smell the grass once football resumes.

The 30-year-old Bafana Bafana player he been enjoying an injury free season and his best season to date in a Mamelodi Sundowns shirt. 

Vilakazi who has 10 goals and 11 assists from 32 matches tells the club’s official website has been blessed by not being injured this season, which was the setback previously.

“I am grateful for being injury-free, and when that happens the coaches will give you the opportunity, and I think I have done the job the best way I can. My priority has been to do my best to help the team. That’s my motto this season. I believe I can get better once we resume football because Sundowns is a team determined to get more trophies,” he said.

“I want to smell the grass again, get the feel of the ball on my boots, wear the training kit and going for it again and hearing the coach give us that pep-talk again, that we are back. Those are the things that I am looking forward to and to see how we go about the remaining games and the Nedbank Cup, that’s exciting.”

Sundowns were second on the Absa Premiership table with nine matches to go before the league was suspended because of the Covid19 pandemic in March.

“There’s a positive side and the negative side of the break – the negative being that it has gone on beyond what we anticipated and led to a bit of frustration,” says Vilakazi.

“We thought by now we would be back doing what we do best, which is playing football. We thought things would get back to normal in terms of it being okay for us to go back, does it make sense and given the medical greenlight. But the positive side is of course the opportunity to bond with our families because we are away so much. We participate in the CAF Champions League and that in itself takes so much time away from family, the beautiful side is seeing your children daily now. It’s how we test ourselves in Africa to see how far we can go, so it has the negative and the positive side.”