Has Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana defender Mabiliso been treated unfairly? twitter facebook reddit twitter facebook reddit

It's been a season of mixed fortunes, and little action for Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana left-back Sibusiso Mabiliso.

After the likes of Yagan Sasman, Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya and Happy Mashiane failed to grab their chances at left-back, Amakhosi went out in the off-season and bought two new left-sided full-backs - Mabiliso and Sifiso Hlanti, from AmaZulu and Swallows FC, respectively.

It was a dream come true for Mabiliso to join South Africa's biggest club, and not long after that, he must have been pinching himself when he was also called up by new Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos for the opening couple of World Cup qualifiers.

"To be honest Kaizer Chiefs is a team I always dreamt of playing for. I was looking forward to it and I was very excited at the news initially," he told Chiefs media.

"When the move happened, I got a call from my agent and then I spoke to my dad and mom, and they pushed me to join Chiefs. They knew this was my dream move," added Mabiliso, who hails from a small town near Rustenburg.

At the time it was, however, a somewhat surprising call-up to the national team, because at that point, he had not even enjoyed any game-time for Amakhosi - Hlanti had been Stuart Baxter's first choice for Chiefs.

Mabiliso failed though to get any action for Bafana and since returning from national team camp, the 22-year-old has played just 47 minutes - spread over three substitute showings, and has not been overly impressive.

Indeed he even scored an own goal after coming off the bench against Royal AM.

And then when it came to Broos selecting the next Bafana Bafana squad, to do duty in the third and fourth qualifiers, Mabiliso was left out. It may not have been such a knock to his confidence if he had never been included the first time around, but now he must have been left wondering what had changed Broos' mind.

Mabiliso's latest snub came last weekend, when with Hlanti unavailable for Chiefs, Baxter elected instead to play a right-back, Reeve Frosler, at left-back, for the 4-0 win over Chippa United.

The former Usuthu player was brought on for the final 10 minutes, with the game already wrapped up at 3-0; small consolation.

Talk about mixed messages - Mabiliso's head must be spinning and hopefully for the player he has a strong support system around him to keep him focussed and upbeat - one month he's good enough to be selected for the Bafana side (he also made an appearance at the Olympic Games for the U-23's), and the next, he's relegated to third choice left-back for his club.

For a young player of obvious talent, he needs to be playing regularly and has been done no favours by his club and country managers.