Manyisa explains how eager he was to play despite injury setback

Cape Town - Orlando Pirates playmaker Oupa Manyisa has revealed the pain he went through after spending nearly a year on the sidelines following a serious leg injury.

The player suffered the blow in a league match against Polokwane City in September last year, and only returned to full action in late August.

The 28-year-old spent the best part of 12 months in recovery, which involved wearing a protective boot and hobbling around on crutches for a long period of time.

However, the player has since explained that it wasn't the rehabilitation process which caused him the most pain - it was not being able to play football for Pirates.

"The hardest part has been sitting and watching the team, knowing that I wanted to be there with them but couldn't do anything about it," he said as quoted by orlandopiratesmagazine.com.

"All I wanted to do was jump in, crutches or not!

"There's nothing worse for a footballer than to be at the game, knowing that you are so close to the action but also too far to get involved. That, for me, is worse than the actual injury."