Jose Riveiro says Orlando Pirates have enough quality in depth to make up for a number of long-term injuries.
The Buccaneers recently revealed a long list of injured players that includes Olisa Ndah, Thalente Mbatha, Bandile Shandu, Tapelo Xoki, Goodman Mosele, Zakhele Lepasa, Thabiso Lebitso, Sandile Mthethwa and Ethan Visagie.
While Ndah has been ruled out for the season, the likes of Shandu, Xoki and Lebitso are to close to making their comebacks after returning to light training.
Pirates are next in action against Magesi in the Carling Knockout Cup, and Riveiro is confident his team will pick up a positive result.
Ahead of the weekend’s game, Riveiro said in the Citizen: “We feel for all of them because players always want to be on the football pitch, they want to play games.
“Olisa Ndah was in an exceptional moment of his career. It’s a pity that he won’t be part of the team for the upcoming months. But we have solutions (for him) in the squad.
“We have enough quality in the squad to replace Olisa and other players as we did in the final (of the MTN8). He didn’t play but we had an international player in (Nkosinathi) Sibisi. Thapelo Xoki is also coming back soon. We also have our captain Innocent Maela. So the only headache I have is to find the best starting line-up in a squad of 39 players.”
Riveiro added: “The fact that Olisa won’t be around for a long time, it’s something that we cannot change. The medical department is working hard to try and bring Olisa and other injured players back as soon as possible.
“Our job is to ensure that the other players that come in for them are ready to do the job as was the case with Sibisi who came in and delivered a good performance in the final. That talks a lot about the players’ readiness in the squad.”