Mamelodi Sundowns forward Cassius Mailula believes his return to the Bafana Bafana setup is a testament to the importance of regular club football.

The 25-year-old was last part of the national team setup in March 2023 under former head coach Hugo Broos.

His absence from the national team was mainly due to a lack of game time during his time at Major League Soccer outfit Toronto FC

He has since earned his place back into the Bafana setup after completing a move back to Sundowns.

Mailula insists that his quality has always given him confidence in his ability to represent the national team.

“I’ve always believed that I belong to the national team because of the quality that I have,” said Mailula.

“Even with the previous coach (Broos), I was called up. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way I wanted because I was not playing at my club.

“It shows that it doesn’t matter who you are, you need to play at club level to earn your call-up.

“For me, coming back to South Africa and playing more games, it gave me a lot of confidence that if you do well, you have a chance to come back to the national team.”