Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has confirmed that midfielder Oupa Manyisa will be sidelined for the rest of the season with an achilles injury.
Manyisa was stretchered off after 42 minutes of Sundowns’ 4-2 loss to Kaizer Chiefs in the Shell Helix Ultra Cup on Saturday and Mosimane shed some light on the extent of the injury.
“I think his Achilles is gone, so I think the season is done for him, hey, unfortunately – it’s very sad,” said Mosimane in his post-match press conference.
Meanwhile, Mosimane defended his decision to play a second-string side.
“I would not say that I took a gamble, I never gamble in football. I play football proper, and we have been making changes a lot in the team,” he insisted.
“From Thohoyandou [against Black Leopards] to today, obviously I made nine changes, but I don’t want to complain about that because I did that when we played against Seychelles [Cote d’Oro].
“It’s part of the game and we can’t be complaining. We played Sundowns players that are normal, regular players, so it’s not a gamble; it’s okay, it’s part of football.
“It’s also good for me, good for the players, good for everybody – good for you [the media], that we know what we have in the bag and we assess, so give guys a chance to play.
“We can’t give them a chance on just any game, this is the right game, with the right intensity and everything. So, it’s okay, we learn from this game.
“There’s lot of positive to take out of this game, and I think there can be a lot of positives also from Chiefs’ side. So, it’s just a learning game – it’s unbelievable what I’ve learnt today about my team.”