Orlando Pirates are sweating over the fitness of four of their players ahead of their MTN8 quarter-final with Royal AM.
The Buccaneers face Thwihli Thwahla on Saturday but could be without Thabiso Monyane, Thembinkosi Lorch and Kabelo Dlamini, while Thabang Monare is close to a return.
“The likes of Thabiso Monyane, Thembinkosi Lorch and Kabelo Dlamini have emerged as fresh injury concerns,” the club said via a statement.
“Meanwhile, midfielder Thabang Monare nears a return to action after being sidelined after a brief spell on the sidelines.”
New Bucs coach Jose Riveiro also addressed the club’s injury situation but insisted they are not suffering from a major crisis, just a few unlucky knocks.
“I think in this period we had one injury, actually. Everybody else got hits, knocks, accidents like yesterday,” he said during his MTN8 pre-match press conference when asked by iDiski Times.
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“We are not suffering a bad moment in terms of injuries, maybe unlucky in some situations like yesterday but nothing else. Those are not serious things, maybe just consequences of playing so many games in quick succession.
“When the fatigue appears, like it happened yesterday in the end of the game for both teams, it’s Moree possible that those type of misunderstandings that provoke an accident like it happened, not between two players, it happened at least three times. It can happen because of the fatigue you make worse decisions, wrong decisions, sometimes the timing is wrong. The coordination sometimes when you are tired is not the best one, it’s a consequence of that.
“But not injured, accidents. It was not a joke for Xoki and Sibisi and I’m not worried about that, they will be back soon, I’m very optimistic about every case, so hopefully they will be on the field on Saturday.”
Royal AM host Pirates at Chatsworth Stadium at 18:00 on Saturday.
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