Orlando Pirates have given a brief injury update ahead of Saturday’s Soweto Derby in the Nedbank Cup semi-final, with Thembinkosi Lorch remaining a doubt.
Lorch had returned in February from the injury that saw him sidelined for large parts of the first half of the campaign.
He was crucial in his club’s run to the Nedbank Cup semi-final, scoring in each of the club’s three previous games but he has again been out of the squad in the last three league fixtures and remains a doubt ahead of Saturday, along with Innocent Maela.
“Bucs Captain Innocent Maela sat out his side’s last two games, while midfielder Thembinkosi Lorch has been recovering from a knock picked up in the lead up to the home victory against Cape Town City two weeks ago,” Pirates said in brief statement on their website.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers will be boosted by the return of Miguel Timm and Kabelo Dlamini, who have both served their one-match suspension, sitting out the 1-1 draw against Royal AM.
Pirates coach Jose Riveiro also kept his cards close to his chest, saying – at the time of his pre-match press conference on Thursday – he had neither seen his players, nor the physios and doctors.
“To be honest I cannot answer that question, because we just arrived here, the players are still arriving,” he explained.
“Today is [match day] +1 for us, our +1 day and probably until hours before the game we will not know exactly who is available, who is in condition to play.
“Tomorrow [Friday], is going to be even more difficult, it’s [match day] +2, [match day] -1 in this case. But it’s the day where players are more tired, actually even more than today.
“So it’s difficult, we have to try to use every hour before the game in the right way – eating, sleeping properly, [keeping up] with our protocol recoveries and be disciplined in order to arrive at 3 o’clock on Saturday in the best possible condition.
“For me it is impossible to answer that question, because I didn’t even meet the doctors, the physio’s, I promise.”
