Nedbank Cup

Pitso confirms several absentees ahead of Wits clash

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Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane

Pitso Mosimane has revealed that several of his first-team players – including Dennis Onyango and Ricardo Nascimento – are struggling with injuries ahead of their Nedbank Cup semi-final clash with Bidvest Wits.

Downs face Wits in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday, but will be without a number of players heading into their first game of the restart.

Mosimane said that on top of a number of injuries and illnesses, striker Mauricio Affonso is stuck in Uruguay and unable to travel back to South Africa.

‘We have Jose Ali Meza injured, the next two days we will make an assessment to see if he is available. We have Anele Ngconca injured, we have Kapinga injured, though of course, he is not playing,’ Mosimane on Wednesday told the media in a PSL news conference.

‘We have others, we have been updating the injuries. Keletso [Makgalwa] is also injured and out, [Ricardo] Nascimento has got a niggling injury, too. Those are the players who are out because of injuries.

‘Then we had players who could not train because they tested positive for Covid-19 and we did not help them, we had to isolate them, they were not part of the training. We had other guys who were sick with flu because of winter but not Covid, but they came back.

‘We have Mauricio Affonso stuck in Uruguay. We are not able to get him. We have Thapelo [Morena] still out injured, he is there but we don’t want to risk him. He has trained with us, he is kicking, but we don’t want him to go out and break down – then you regret all the five months that he has gone through.

‘We heard Denis [Onyango] is with a niggling injury also but so far, so good,’ the head coach concluded.