Cape Town - Highlands Park coach Owen da Gama issued an apology to Mamelodi Sundowns striker Jeremy Brockie for criticising his low goal return.
Da Gama made the comments following Highlands' 2-1 defeat to Sundowns earlier this week.
The experienced former Bafana Bafana assistant coach was asked whether he was disappointed that Mothobi Mvala had only managed seven goals in 16 appearances in 2018/19.
The 57-year-old then compared Brockie's total of one league strike to the seven Mvala has managed, saying: "His goal return is not disappointing, especially since he missed out on two games against Pirates.
"If his return is disappointing, then what about Jeremy Brockie? They paid R8 million for him. How many has he scored?"
In response to his previous comments, Da Gama said: "It was in no disrespect to Brockie. He is a wonderful player. I think he is a great goal scorer and he proved that at SuperSport and he is still proving himself at Sundowns.
"It was just a light-hearted comment when somebody said, 'are you disappointed in Mvala having scored seven goals in 17 matches?'
"He [Mvala] is a midfielder, not a striker. And then I just compared him. I mentioned Brockie, but I mentioned others. I mentioned [Gaston] Sirino also. I mean these are players Sundowns spent big money on and he has scored more goals than them.
"I was just trying to give a comparison, no disrespect to the players. It was meant in no disrespect to Brockie and I would like to apologise, but it was not meant in that way."