With Leonardo Castro and Samir Nurkovic both out injured, Kaizer Chiefs have suffered another blow as coach Stuart Baxter revealed that forward Leobgang Manyama has been placed back in rehabilitation after pulling up in training.
Manyama was working his way back up to full fitness after a time on the sides as he made a couple of substitute appearances over the last few weeks in the league.
However, despite the international break, Manyama has no returned to the injury list with Baxter revealing he ‘broke down’ during a training session. With a number of first team stars out of action, Baxter will face a difficult task in finding the right combinations up front to help Chiefs change their fortunes in front of goal.
“The lads coming back from Bafana Bafana are in good spirits, obviously after the good results (against Ethiopia in the back-to-back World Cup qualifiers), they are okay. And the others also representing their national teams came back fully fit, so they are all training properly,” Baxter told journalists on Thursday.
“Our injuries, unfortunately Lebo Manyama has broken down again and we pulled him from training, so he is back to the rehab programme. Samir (Nurkovic) has had an operation and obviously it’s too soon to say anything. Siya (Ngezana), Leo Castro and Dumisani Zuma are all working hard to get back – but they are nowhere near playing.”
Chiefs will be looking to improve on their current log standing of 12th place when they host former coach Gavin Hunt and his Chippa United side on Saturday.
With both sides desperate for the three points, a tight encounter is expected at the FNB Stadium.