Throughout Tottenham's defensive injury crisis the name Bongani Khumalo has been conspicuous by
its absence from the team sheet. The South African was signed during the winter transfer window of
2011 but aside from a couple of appearances on the first team bench, the centre half seems no
closer to making his full debut for the club.
You have to fill a 25 man squad with somebody and given the three major loan departures and one
permanent sale earlier this week, perhaps it's no surprise at some of the names being included by
Spurs this week.
In addition to those departures, Tom Carroll and John Bostock also went out to Derby and
Sheffield Wednesday respectively so are David Bentley, Bongani Khumalo and Simon Dawkins literally
there to ‘make up the numbers?
Spurs centre half Bongani Khumalo finally made his first senior start of any kind in Tuesday
night's 1-1 draw with Orlando Pirates and by all accounts, turned in a reasonable performance.
After arriving in the January transfer window, Spurs fans were only able to see him on the subs
bench before he was loaned out to Preston.
Bongani Khumalo has spoken very positively about his start to life in England although there
remains a lot of speculation as to whether he is up to the task of performing at the highest
level.
Speaking on the club's official website the player said: "It was a great experience to play my
first matches in England.
Steven Pienaar image Safa
Bafana Bafana vs Kenya is going to be one of those matches where the boys are quick out of the
starting block according to coach Pitso Mosimane.
The encounter against the Harambee Stars will be the coach's last chance to see his team in
competitive action ahead of next month's crucial African Nations Cup qualifier with Egypt.
With all the injuries around Spurs at the moment you could have been forgiven for thinking that
new signing Bongani Khumalo would have made his debut in a Lilywhite shirt by now. However, it
seems Harry Redknapp believes the South African needs more time before he is ready for his first
team bow.
It's rare for Spurs not to have a midweek match these days, so with the senior side taking a
break from action, the spotlight fell on the youngsters as a Spurs XI defeated Crystal Place 4-2 on
Tuesday, with new signing Bongani Khumalo making his first appearance in a Tottenham shirt.
Spurs' strikes were shared between Cameron Lancaster and Ryan Mason after a frenetic first
twenty minutes which saw four goals fly in.
