Stellenbosch head coach Steve Barker has provided an injury update on striker Ashley Cupido, Sage Stephens and South African U20 winger Langelihle Phili.
Cupido left the field limping inside of the 10 minutes of the first half between Stellies and AmaZul, he was replaced by Phili. The striker attempted to cross the ball but he couldn’t as he felt something in his right muscle.
Coming to the game, the Cape Winelands side played without their first choice Sage Stephens who was reported to have had a minor injury. Second choice goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke was in goals against Usuthu and kept a clean sheet.
Barker confirmed that Stephens seems to have recovered and he will travel with the team to Zanzibar to face Simba SC in the CAF Confederation Cup first leg semi-final.
With the AFCON U20 fast approaching, Stellies is facing a dilemma of not having Phili for the remainder of their games.
Barker confirmed that they will submit a request to SAFA for Phili to join the a day later so that he can be able to help them in the CAFCC semi-finals, especially that Cupido and Bradley Mojela are out injured.
“It looks like its a bad hamstring, so it’s unlikely he will be available [against Simba], so we will assess tomorrow but he says he felt a pop, so when that happens its probably minimum of six weeks out, unfortunately for him, unfortunately for us obviously with Bradley Mojela out and Ashley… obviously not ideal – but we have to find solutions,” he said.
“I assume he is supposed to report in camp on Sunday, but we will report that he travels with us [to Tanzania] and report for camp on Monday.
“We do travel back from Tanzania and land in Joburg Monday morning, especially with Ashley most likely not to be available, we will request that he at least comes for that match.
“I saw Sage now after the game. I had a bit of the follow-up. The reason he didn’t play was that we didn’t let him fully recover. He seems to be good, so he will travel.
“I am confident that by the weekend, he will be available. He seems to have recovered from it. Obviously, he has been really big for us this season, and it is important for him to be available.”
