Hlela joined Matsatsantsa a Pitori on a loan deal from AmaZulu  for the rest of the season, but he wants to make that a permanent one when it  expires at the end of the season.

With United short on left backs, the 28-year-old sees this as an opportunity to impress coach Gavin Hunt at the club and sign a permanent deal that will keep him in the capital city.

“I just want to work hard and will see what will happen at the end of the season,” said the Heidelberg-born defender, who also played in a reserve match for United against Pirates on Monday.

“I feel I did well in that match. I played as a centre back as one of our defenders was injured and I was pleased with my performance and I’m looking forward to playing for the team,” he added.

Hlela was set to join  United in swap-deal that would’ve seen  striker Mabhudi Khenyeza going to Usuthu, but the striker is yet to agree to  move to Durban.

Hlela has not won anything in his career and playing for the Nedbank Cup champions presents him with a perfect opportunity to win some  silverware but that is not a priority for him just yet.

“At the moment I don’t only want to look at winning things. My focus is to make sure I play more games and work hard to convince the coach to sign me permanently. That’s all I’m looking for,” he said.

Meanwhile, Matsatsantsa have decided against signing former Kaizer Chiefs, Bloemfontein Celtic and Orlando Pirates attacking midfielder Gert Schalkwyk.

 Schalkwyk had been training with the Tshwane giants towards the end of last year, but it looks like he won’t be signed as he did not report to training with the team when they returned last week.