Arendse admits Khune blow

Khune is out with a chest infection and with Darren Keet also out with a knee injury, Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter is likely to go with Ronwen Williams in Friday’s match, with Reyaad Pieterse and Wayne Sandilands his other two options.

READ: Khune and Keet withdrawn from Bafana squad

“Itu and Darren do leave a big gap in terms of experience coming into a big game like this,” said Arendse, who was recently appointed as goalkeeper coach at the national team again.

“Undoubtedly we do miss them as a last line of defence. The situation hasn’t been ideal, but we have had to regroup and revamp, and we have Ronwen and Reyaad and Wayne, so from a goalkeeping perspective I am delighted to have been given the chance to work with these talented footballers.

“Preparations are going very well in terms of the defensive set up for this game. I think a standout component of the national team is that we have become very solid, which is a building block for success.

“We know a bit about Cape Verde, in terms of what their strengths are. They like to get balls over the top and in behind, we have to be wary of that and are doing a lot of work in terms of stopping their lines of attack. We will need a lot of communication from our goalkeeping department in terms of adjusting the defensive set up … where Cape Verde are concerned a lot of people are of the opinion it will be an easy game, but there is no such thing as an easy game in the group stages. We cannot afford to let that taint our mind-set. One think the players have certainly shown here is a strong mind-set.”

READ: Baxter calls up Khune and Keet replacements in Bafana squad