SuperSport United midfielder Siphesihle Ndlovu has made an honest admission about the Tshwane side’s trophy drought, with a clash against defending champions Orlando Pirates in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals on the horizon. 

Matsatsantsa, a team known for lifting a major trophy every season or two, is in their fifth campaign without winning any silverware, which highlights their decline. In recent times, the club won at least one trophy for four consecutive terms between 2014/15 and 2017/18.

The Spartans’ last title came in the form of the MTN8 in the 2019/20 season under the guidance of Kaitano Tembo – this after they finished as runners-up in the previous season where they lost to Benni McCarthy’s Cape Town City.

Now, with SuperSport enduring an underwhelming 2024/25 campaign, Ndlovu has attributed their struggles to a lack of luck and injury woes that put them on the back foot from the onset after key players Bradley Grobler and Grant Margeman suffered long-term injuries in the early stages.

“I think it’s just luck, when you look at the games we create a lot of opportunities, and we tend to go away with nothing at the end of it. And whenever you don’t create opportunities, you tend to win games,” he said.

“So, it’s a matter of luck for us this season and some injuries have been affecting us, but hopefully people will recover, come back and we’ll compete again.”

On goal poacher striker Grobler, who has since returned from the lengthy injury layoff, the 28-year-old has acknowledged that the club heavily relies on him. The veteran won all three South African domestic Cup competitions with the team since joining in January 2013.

“Most definitely [we over-rely on Grobler] because we have a thin squad. So, every player is important in our squad, not Bradley alone but also Grant [Margeman] because everyone contributes massively to the team’s success,” Ndlovu added.

The former Orlando Pirates midfield maestro called for improvement in standards and demands as he believes the club is massively underachieving and performing below par as far as adding trophies to the cabinet is concerned.

“Most definitely [we are underachieving] because this club is rich in terms of titles. Every season this club used to have one or two titles, so at this time and point I’m also not happy with myself at all because this club deserves a title,” the diminutive player continued.

Meanwhile, the KZN-born midfielder expressed his excitement about reuniting with Lebohang Maboe in the capital city. The on-loan Mamelodi Sundowns star scored the decisive goal at the death against Cape Town Spurs in the Nedbank Cup round of 16 to set up a meeting with Pirates.

“Obviously he is a very great player, and that name gives me goosebumps for a reason – we played [together] at Maritzburg United for two seasons. And that season when he left, he had a great season, he was our best player and very influential,” reflected Ndlovu, who scored the fourth goal when SuperSport beat Kaizer Chiefs 4-1 at FNB Stadium on Tuesday.

“So, we lost him, and things went south. I’m very happy to be reunited with him and he’s going to contribute to the club’s success, we believe so.”