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Palacios sings Shitolo's praises

Cape Town - Orlando Pirates coach Augusto Palacios has praised midfielder Gladwin Shitolo following his stand-out performance in the 2-2 draw with Highlands Park.

The 27-year-old completed his first 90 minutes for the Mayfair-based outfit at the weekend since arriving from Golden Arrows during the transfer window, and the Pirates mentor was particularly pleased with his work-rate against the newly-promoted outfit.

"I know Shitolo very well," Palacios told KickOff.

"I know him from the time that he was loaned to Golden Arrows. He is a hard worker and on Saturday he didn’t make mistakes, never lost one pass and with Issa [Sarr] he was supplemented well."

Palacios also reiterated his selection-policy, which is purely performance-based.

"One important thing you need to understand with me is that I believe in competition - I don’t believe in names," he continued.

"If the player performs then I will go with him. Mpho (Makola) and Oupa were injured and the performance from Shitolo means you cannot put him out. This needs to be clear that selection is based on performance.

"I like players who are committed to the team. If you have the opportunity, use it. Football for me is not about names, I don’t care about players in the national team or coming from overseas. I don’t look into that, but the performance of the player.

"I have been long in this country and I know South African players: one thing is that when a player is not playing regularly it affects his private life and training.

"When we are camping on Friday I don’t tell the players who is in the team - everyone needs to bring his bag," he concluded.

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