Stellenbosch FC head coach Gavin Hunt has confirmed three new signings who are yet to be announced but also lamented the long-term injury of new signing Tlakusani Mthethwa.
The Stellenbosch coach spoke after Bradley Grobler scored a very late equaliser to cancel out Bethuel Muzeu’s goal to draw 1-1 with Sekhukhune United.
But the four-time league-winning coach said that his team is still very thin in certain departments, and while he won’t use it as an excuse, he is hoping to have several players available to him in the coming weeks.
That includes prodigal son Ashley Du Preez, who is carrying a slight niggle, and Mosa Lebusa, who has been out injured since the first game of the campaign against AmaZulu. Du Preez, who just joined from Kaizer Chiefs, could be back imminently, while Lebusa is expected to return after the international break, but Mthethwa could be out for some time.
“He has to have an operation; I just found out today,” Hunt confirmed to the media after the Sekhukhune game.
“So what does that mean? So we’re short in midfield. We’re really short, you know, in centre midfield. So we’re going to need to look at what we can do there.
“We’ve got one or two of our youth players in, but you know, we’ve got some big games coming up: Chiefs and Pirates, and we’re going to need a little bit more legs and power there.
“Mthethwa gave us a lot of balance and power, and he was signed for that reason: experience, good professional. So it’s a big blow to us, that.”
‘4 or 5 starters are not playing yet’
While they’re yet to be announced by the club, there are also a trio of foreigners still to be unleashed by Hunt. Ghanaian goalkeeper Solomon Agbasi is now available for selection, but Hunt confirmed they’re still waiting on work permits for the Nigerian duo of Arigo Obus Godspower and Lateef Kazeem Adeyanju.
“The one’s obviously a left winger; he’s a left-footed player, Kazeem,” Hunt said.
“He’s really done well at training, and obviously the other guy, Arigo, is a striker. It’ll give us options, so rotating Bradley and him a little bit more; he can very much play up on the last line.
“Good in the air, he runs, he’s got a lot of goals in pre-season, but obviously hasn’t been able to use him. So that’s going to be another problem to try and integrate him a little bit more.
“It’s just work permits now.”
Hunt feels that some of these players could form the core of his new-look Stellenbosch team, and is eagerly waiting to have them available.
“If you look at our squad, there’s certainly four, five that will start in our team that are not playing,” Hunt said.
“And it’s been unfortunate. It’s just one of those things. Lebusa, Bafana [Mthethwa], Kazeem, and Arigo, they will start the four, five of them in our team. But obviously, they haven’t been available for various reasons, and that’s about it.”