Injury woes for Chippa United

CHIPPA United are faced with injury worries ahead of their Nedbank Cup quarterfinals fixture against lower tier side Jomo Cosmos today at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (3pm).

With a bulk of his key players on the sidelines the Chilli Boys coach Dan Malesela will be confronted with a tough task in choosing his starting XI against a tricky Cosmos side.

Buyani Sali, Daniel Akpeyi, Justice Chabalala, Thamsanqa Sangweni, Diamond Thopola, Katlego Mashego, Rhulani Manzini and David Zulu are some of the players that have been ruled out.

However, Malesela said there was a possibility that Nigerian goalkeeper Akpeyi and skipper Sangweni might be available for today’s match.

Chippa’s defensive midfielder Sandile Zuke said senior players will have to set up their game if they wanted the team to progress to the next round of the competition.

This season marks Zuke’s 10th year in the Premier Soccer League.

Having played for Bidvest Wits, Mphumalanga Black Aces and Kaizer Chiefs the 29-year-old has vast experience when it comes to cup matches.

He is one of the players that Malesela will be counting on to help take Chippa through to the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup.

“Some of the guys who will be starting have not been playing.

“As senior players we just have to help them settle as soon as possible, so that it becomes easy for them.

“I think they are all capable of doing the job for the team that’s why they are here at Chippa,” Zuke said.

“We are playing against a team from the NFD. A very difficult team to play against, so what we will have to do is just apply the instructions which we will be taking from the coach.

“Hopefully we will out victorious.”

Zuke said the season had been difficult for the team but he could not spell out which areas were at fault. However, collectively they must pick themselves up in order to survive.

“These things happen in football. Maybe it’s just a phase that we have to go through,” he said.