Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki was pleased with the attitude of his players as the full squad trained together for the first time on Wednesday ahead of their crunch African Nations Championship (CHAN) double-header against Malawi.

South Africa and the Flames are competing for one of the two remaining spots in Group C at the tournament which is set to get underway on August 2 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Ntseki’s side were due to travel to Lilongwe on Thursday for the first leg of their second-round qualifier at the Bingu National Stadium on Saturday before returning home to prepare for the second leg at Loftus Versfeld on May 11.

Ntseki revealed it has been a challenge to get the full compliment of players in camp given that the Betway Premiership season is reaching its conclusion this month and many clubs still have something to fight for.

“It has been very difficult, I must say, because clubs are playing today on Wednesday, and clubs are playing over the weekend, and we had a lot of withdrawals due to club commitments,” Ntseki said.

“I think everybody is aware that the league is nearing an end and teams in the PSL are working very hard to be in the top eight, some are working very hard to be in the top three, some are working very hard to win the championship, and some are working very hard to avoid relegation.

“So it has been very difficult to get all the players we called up in the initial squad. Today is for the first time that we have a full squad, that is, we have a full squad that has reported for camp, so we could start working on our tactics and making and creating different moments of the game for a better tactical understanding so that when we get to Malawi, we are able to execute our tactical plan.

“But I think the attitude of the players that are in camp is very good, and it has always been like that. Our players, they really want to be part of the national team, and you can see some of them had to call me, and talk to me about them coming to the camp, which was very good.”