Richards Bay coach Vasili Manousakis says injuries are starting to cripple his side’s fine run that has seen them climb into second in the DStv Premiership standings.
Manousakis says they will be without defender Mpho Mathebula when they host Usuthu at King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday (15:30), the club he spent almost two seasons when garnered unparalleled success with coach Benni McCarthy.
Bay also has a long-term injury of Simphiwe Mcineka, who last featured for the club in October last year against Maritzburg United.
Ndiviwe Mdabuka has also been out for a number of weeks, with just a handful of appearances this season.
Former Orlando Pirates defender Ntsikelelo Nyauza was taken off in the second half in the 1-1 draw against SuperSport United last weekend in what was a second spot battle between two due to feeling unwell.
Abel Mabaso returned from the injury recently and looked to have picked up a knock against SuperSport but he has shaken off that.
Captain Siphamandla Mtolo has also returned from the long term, but he has featured in the last three matches this year.
“The biggest concern is the growing injury list for us,” admits Manousakis.
“It is getting tough and tough each week. Another player now out, Mathebula, for three and half weeks and that becomes very, very tough. So it is becoming very tough and challenging for us.
“But all teams have injuries, but we don’t have the depth like AmaZulu has. But we certainly are going to be relying on our youngsters and we believe in them.
“That’s why we are not going to the transfer market in this January window.”
The last time Bay met AmaZulu was in October, with Bay snatching a late winner through Sakhile Hlongwa in the dying minutes. The following day, Usuthu confirmed the departure of Brandon Truter and he was replaced by Romain Folz.
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Bay was also formed via AmaZulu. Usuthu purchased Thanda Royal Zulu’s PSL status in the 2017/18 season after AmaBhubesi won the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
Sifiso Biyela, now the chairman of Bay was Thanda Royal Zulu’s CEO then, purchased Usuthu’s MFC status to form Bay.
Despite having been mired by injuries, Manousakis expects fireworks in the KZN Derby.
“Derbies tend to be intense, tend to be a little bit tight,” he said.
“We are going to approach the game and first and foremost we need to be calm, because we are playing at home. We haven’t played at home for the last two games having played away on the trot. We haven’t done well of late but this is our chance to redeem ourselves.”
The last time Bay played at home they lost 2-0 to the all conquering Mamelodi Sundowns, which was just their second loss at home and third overall this season.
