Scottish forward Simon Murray has confirmed his departure from Bidvest Wits as he dashed out of South Africa hours before the national shutdown commenced.

The 28-year-old moved to the Clever Boys in 2018 and despite a decent first campaign in South Africa he suffered a serious knee injury just three games into the 2019-20 season and has not featured since.

Murray, who scored eight goals in 28 appearances for Wits, revealed to the Evening Telegraph in the UK that he has indeed left by mutual consent after the club signed Cameroon-born striker Bienvenu Eva Nga in January.

Due to the league’s regulations on foreign nationals, Wits were forced to deregister Murray in order to make space for Nga which ultimately impacted the decision.

‘I hurt my knee in the third game of the season and needed an operation. So, I’ve been out for six-and-a-half months,’ Murray told the publication.

‘Because there’s a limit on the number of foreign players over here, the club signed another forward [Nga] when I was injured and [he] took my place. So, we’ve come to an agreement to terminate my contract when I’m fit.

‘The club has been really good, to be honest. They’ve made sure I got through the injury and looked after me during rehab,’ he added.

‘The plan was to stay here in South Africa, get the rehab done and recover from the injury and then head back to Scotland in the summer but because of all this coronavirus, it is up in the air.’

Murray, though, has since left the country to return home to Scotland catching the final flight out of OR Tambo before the 21-day national lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic came into effect.