Orlando Pirates will be without last season’s top goalscorer Gabadinho Mhango for this weekend’s Soweto derby in the MTN8 semi-final second leg, while Terrence Dzuvukamanja, Thembinkosi Lorch and Thulani Hlatshwayo remain in doubt.

The Malawian striker missed the first leg last week as Zakhele Lepasa came in to replace him and hit the back of the net in a resounding 3-0 win over their fierce rivals.

Speaking ahead of the second leg, Bucs assistant coach Fadlu Davids revealed that Mhango will miss the game while they are still waiting on the fitness reports of the other three key players.

‘Gabadinho Mhango is ruled out, he is definitely not available,’ Davids told the media.

‘We still awaiting Tyson, Lorch and Dzvukamanja. We’ll get the reports later in the day and we will make a decision to do a late fitness test or not.’

Lorch (knee) and Dzvukamanja (head) suffered injuries in Pirates’ 1-0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic in midweek, and at the time Davids admitted that ‘it did not look good’. Hlatshwayo, meanwhile, missed the match completely.

Pirates will be hoping to book a spot in the MTN8 final as they take their big lead into the second leg against Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium on Sunday. The match is scheduled for kick-off at 3pm.