Mamelodi Sundowns forward Pavol Safranko was delighted to get much-needed game time, but admits it was not easy for him to get back into the team after his return from a hamstring injury.

The 27-year-old returned to action by coming on as a 79th-minute substitute for Khuliso Mudau to score his sixth goal of the campaign during Sundowns’ 5-0 thrashing of lower-division Summerfield Dynamos over the weekend.

Although his campaign has been sidetracked through injury, Safranko is slowly finding his feet as he has managed to find the back of the net on six occasions in 26 matches across all competitions.

The Slovak international has credited his goal to his teammates and technical staff members after he received a “perfect” pass from Gaston Sirino to head his effort past Summerfield keeper Bongani Masoga.

“I feel fine. I haven’t played in a long time because I was injured, so it was nice to be on the pitch and to score,” Safranko told his club’s official website.

“Sundowns is not a small team, we have very good players and if you’re out for even one day, the next four guys are waiting for their chance and they will play well. It’s not that easy to come back, but I will do my best and work hard.

“Credit must go to the coaching staff, as well as the analysts, because when we watched this team’s videos they said in the set pieces, more especially the free kicks, the far post is always free. So, I was thinking about it and Gaston gave me the perfect pass and it was not so hard to score from this.”