Arrows waiting on Orlando Pirates regarding two players

Golden Arrows are said to be waiting on Orlando Pirates regarding the future of Gladwin Shitolo and Mthokozisi Dube, with the KwaZulu-Natal side eager to keep the two players at the club for another season.

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Shitolo and Dube spent last season on loan at Arrows, but they recently reported back to their parent club, the Buccaneers, with the Soweto outfit busy with pre-season training.

According to a source, Arrows are looking to keep the core of the players who did well for the club last season which saw them finish the campaign in fourth place on the DStv Premiership table.

Shitolo and Dube were among the key players at the KZN outfit and losing them will mean the team needs to find suitable replacements, especially after losing another key defender Divine Lunga to Mamelodi Sundowns.

“It’s stressing at this moment because the club is looking for continuity, but how are you going to achieve that when the players who were regulars are no longer there? I’m not saying it’s impossible to replace them, but it’s going to be hard. We also lost the coach (Mandla Ncikazi) so, you see this thing makes it a bit difficult. So, we will hear what Orlando Pirates say about them.,” said the source.

“The club would be happy to have them back in the team whether on loan again, or on permanent basis. The plan is to make sure that the team does better than it has last season and we all saw that it’s possible. We have a new coach (Lehlohonolo Seema) who is ambitious and also wants to see the club succeeding. It is just a matter of him getting the right players and he will be able to deliver,” added the source.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Orlando Pirates are waiting to see if they will be competing in the Caf Confederation Cup next season after finishing in third spot on the  DStv Premiership log, meaning they will need a bigger squad.

However, should Kaizer Chiefs’ win in the final of the Caf Champions League against Al Ahly on Saturday – that will see Orlando Pirates being booted out of the competition with only four South African teams eligible to compete in the Caf tournament from the country.

If Chiefs win, Amakhosi and Mamelodi Sundowns will compete in the Champions League, while AmaZulu FC, after finishing second on the log will play in the Confederation Cup along with Nedbank Cup winners Marumo Gallants, formerly known as Tshakuma Tsha Madzivhandila.