Solinas hopes to have Manyama, Parker for Soweto derby

Kaizer Chiefs coach Giovanni Solinas is hoping to that the attacking duo of Bernard Parker and Lebogang Manyama will be fit to face Orlando Pirates in the Telkom Knockout semi-finals this weekend.

Chiefs will be hoping to avenge their Absa Premiership Soweto derby defeat against their arch-rivals when the two sides resume their rivalry in the semi-finals of the cup competition at a sold-out Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.

Both Manyama and Parker have not featured in the Amakhosi’s last two encounters due to being sidelined from a car accident, while Parker’s knock was never disclosed.

Quizzed about his side’s ability to compete on all fronts with the current squad at his disposal, Solinas made mention of his injured players, but maintained that they will try and manage their situation given their injury woes.

‘I hope to recover my attacking players like Lebo Manyama and Bernard Parker,’ the former Free State Stars man told reporters.

‘These players, I think we can recover these players during the FIFA break. It is very important because that will give us more options; more options in the starting line-up, more options also on the bench.

‘Because these are two very important players for us. But yes, after the FIFA break, we start our marathon because we have a lot of games in the CAF Confederation Cup. We’ll be playing every two or three days because we’ll be travelling, [then] play.

‘We are playing in the Confederation Cup, in the league, so we have got a lot of games. But okay, we’ve got a good squad. We’ll try to manage the situation. We’ll try to manage the fatigue of the players.

‘Because fatigue in this situation is not only when you play but also when you travel – that is fatigue. But in this situation we’ll try to manage the squad. We’ll try to refresh the squad with rotation,’ he concluded.

Solinas’ side do duty in the preliminary stages of the CAF Confederation Cup against Zimamoto of Zanzibar with the clash set for the weekend of November 27/28 with the return duel set for December 4/5.