Lepasa injury blow for Bafana

Bafana Bafana will have to face the Ivory Coast in a friendly in Abidjan on Tuesday without Orlando Pirates striker Zakhele Lepasa, who has been ruled out of the match with a knee injury.

Lepasa did not travel with the squad to the Ivory Coast when they left on Saturday, leaving Hugo Broos a striker short in an attack already battling to score goals.

The Buccaneers front man only got 15 minutes in the disappointing goalless draw against Eswatini on Friday night, suggesting that Broos was looking at using him from the start in Abidjan.

“Lepasa is struggling with a left knee overuse injury … on the even of travelling the injury became worse, which necessetated that he does get some investigation to find … the severity of the injury,” said team doctor Thabo Maleka.

Clean bill of health

The rest of the squad has been given a clean bill of health, according to Maleka. Even captain Ronwen Williams, who missed the Eswatini game, is “recovering well,” according to the team doctor.

Bafana will play the Elephants in their final friendly before the Fifa World Cup qualifiers kick off in November. The Ivory Coast are also hosting the Africa Cup of Nations finals early next year and the match should give Bafana an idea of the conditions they will be playing in.

Broos’ side have been drawn in Group E alongside Tunisia, Mali and Namibia.