Nurkovic set to return to field after lengthy injury

Royal AM co-coach Abraham Nteo has confirmed that Serbian striker Samir Nurkovic will make a comeback after the FIFA international in October.

Nurkovic joined Royal in the off-season after a three-year stint at Kaizer Chiefs, where he missed most parts of his last campaign at Naturena due to a long-term injury.

The Serbian hitman recovered and joined Royal in the pre-season but sustained a knee injury in training before the start of the 2022/23 season.

Nurkovic is medically fit and joined the KwaZulu-Natal side in training this week ahead of their CAF Confederations Cup game against Mbabane Highlanders on Friday at Moses Mabhida Stadium (16:00).

Royal AM tactician, Nteo, made it clear that Nurkovic won’t take any part in the second preliminary round clash against Mbabane due to match fitness issues.

However, the coach is hopeful that the former Amakhosi striker will make his much-anticipated debut in the DStv Premiership sometime in October.

ROYAL AM COACH ON NURKOVIC

“He just came back to training this week; we expect him to be back after Fifa break; for now, we will work on his fitness,”, Nteo told the media on Wednesday.

“We have enough players to compete in this competition, as we have promoted some MDC players to the senior team.

“We want to go as far as we can; we believe we have a good enough team to compete,” added Nteo.

Royal are in a favourable position to advance to the next round of the CAF Confed Cup after a goalless draw last weekend in Eswatini.

“The first game we played against them; we didn’t know them. We now know their strength, and we just need to score goals and not concede so that we can qualify for the next round, said Nteo.

“They were not that physical; they liked us. They have just a few good players, especially their captain; they’ve got speed. We just need to be careful of that.”