Sangweni to work on fitness

THAMI Sangweni would not be fielded by Chippa United until he recovered his fitness, coach Ernst Middendorp said in explaining why the Bafana Bafana midfielder had not featured for the Eastern Cape club this year.

“He is a player with huge capacity but he hasn’t played since December 22. He went to the Nations Cup finals, but did not play a single game. He came back in the beginning of February, so he had six weeks of nothing.

“He can come back, but he doesn’t look fantastic at the moment. He doesn’t look like a player who should be in the team,” Middendorp said, lay- ing down a challenge for more consistency in training to a player who was a regular in the first half of the season.

The Chippa coach said he was also not sure striker Edward Manqele would get to feature regularly: “It will take a bit of time. I think he could be in better condition, he hasn’t had the right diet but we are working on it. But the physical side is only one part. He also has to motivate himself.”

Meanwhile, former Chippa coach Kosta Papic will take his Polokwane City team to face Chilli Boys in Port Elizabeth tomorrow intent on continuing to play their brazenly attacking football.

“We are not going to change,” insisted the coach, whose side has scored more goals, but also conceded more than any other team in the Premier Soccer League.