Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena is excited about the return to training of their top striker Peter Shalulile, who could make his long-awaited return against Orlando Pirates on Friday.
The Brazilians will host the Buccaneers at the Loftus Stadium on Friday night, in what will be the league’s first round of matches after the Fifa World Cup, which was held in Qatar.
Shalulile has been out of action for two months and his absence was felt by the Brazilians as they bombed out of the MTN8 against the same Pirates. But they picked themselves up and scored an avalanche of goals afterwards – and the return of Shalulile, who walked away with the PSL Footballer of the Season, should add more firepower upfront.
“Peter Shalulile is not out or not available for Pirates,” explained Mokwena ahead of the much-anticipated clash of the titans.
“Peter is training and we will assess and see. He is on the pitch and will wait for the medical green light. We have long-term situations with Abdelmounaim Boutouil, who has undergone surgery and long-term situations with Terrance Mashego, who has also undergone surgery, those are the long-term injuries. Lebo Maboe relapsed on the knee that underwent surgery and he has fallen back a few backwards, but not as severe as Boutouil and Terrance.
Aubrey Modiba is not available because of suspension and the rest of the team is on the green grass. That means Shalulile should be available for Pirates,” Mokwena explained further.
As for Pirates, Mokwena said they are anticipating a very tough encounter. “You have to play well in order to beat Pirates. But it is a great blessing for the coach to have these kinds of players that we have at the club. They are good human beings individually and we have good people we work with. We hope we can continue with the momentum that we had before the break.
“It’s difficult, Chelsea in the EPL were on a bad momentum before the break but came back strong – breaks are difficult to judge until you see performances on the pitch. Football belongs to the players, they put the football product on the pitch, we will see what they bring on the pitch on Friday, but we are hopeful that the work we have done will give us a good performance. Against a team like Pirates, we don’t have a chance if we do not play well. What we can focus on are good preparations to win the match,” added Mokwena.
For the latest sport news from Sunday World, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
