Rodgers ready for Sundowns fight

Rodgers stood out at Santos last season, despite his hometown club getting relegated, and now finds himself faced with the task of breaking into a Sundowns team that is spoilt for choices up-front.

“I obviously want to become a regular and be more consistent so that I get a lot of game-time. With more game-time I obviously hope to continue with my goalscoring form so that I help the club achieve silverware this season,” Rodgers tells KickOff.com.

He has the immediate task of getting his fitness in line with the rest of the squad after joining pre-season late and then adjusting to Johannesburg.

“I don’t think I am that far off from getting to top fitness. I joined the team late on in pre-season so I have a bit of catching up to do. I am still a bit rusty, but I am not that far behind.

“I know I have to fight for my position in the team so I should continue to work. Coming from Cape Town I am adapting and not complaining to training at a different altitude. So far it has been a lot better than what I thought it would be, though I know the bigger challenges are still to come. With hard work I should come right,” he says.

With all of Katlego Mphela, Anthony Laffor, Edward Manqele, Emmanuel Baffour, Richard Henyekane and Nyasha Mushekwi (if he stays) looking to play, it will be a mammoth task for Rodgers to establish himself as a regular.

“The reality is that I bring in a different quality to the team, so obviously when the coach puts me on he will want me to do what I am good at, which is to hold up the ball up and get into the box and score while obviously combining with the other players.

“The competition here is completely different and something that I am not familiar with, but I will come right, especially with the experience that I now have in the game.

“From what I have been through at Santos I don’t think I will be too discouraged when I am not in the team because there are other quality players. As long as the team is winning I will be happy, but I have to put in extra work to convince the coach to throw me into the fray,” says Rodgers.