Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba believes that experienced players are needed in the squad to help blend with the younger players in the squad.

The South African national team will host Lions of Teranga in a crucial World Cup qualifier at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, before taking on Mozambique in an international friendly match next Tuesday.

The 66-year-old insists that experience is needed in the Bafana Bafana squad to help guide the younger players in the team.

‘Experience? Yes, it’s something you need in a game, but that experience needs to be blended with young players because you get a lot of different approaches to a match,’ Mashaba said.

‘Actually, when we selected the team, we didn’t look at those things that ‘this one is experienced; this one is not experienced’, we look at their performance during the last games that we watched.’

The match at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium kicks off at 15:00.