Durban City head coach Khalil Ben Youssef has revealed why he started Gaston Sirino on the bench in the side’s opening match of the 2026/27 Betway Premiership away at Sekhukhune United, saying the player just returned from injury.
The Uruguayan joined City last month after his contract at former side Kaizer Chiefs wasn’t renewed at the end of June.
He was one of three new players in the City side that started on the bench in the 1-0 defeat to Babina Noko at Seshego Stadium on Saturday.
The 35-year-old midfielder was a second-half substitute and was later joined by fellow new players Tashreeq Morris and Bandile Shandu on the pitch.
Ben Youssef said Sirino only started training this past week and is not yet ready to play an entire game. while explaining how he relied on striker Jean Lwamba Lubumba’s pace in the first half.
“No, Sirino was injured,” answered Khalil when asked by iDiski Times why the player didn’t make the starting 11.
“Sirino started to train only three training sessions this week. He was two weeks out, so he’s not able to play 90 minutes. So for that we keep him for the second half.
“I think the plan of the game it was to choose [Jean Lubumba] Lwamba because we need someone who is more mobile.
“About the mobility of Lwamba he is fast and he can give us solutions in the deep and it was the plan of the first half if you see how many balls he received behind the line of defense.”
Change Of Plans In The Second Half
“Then in the second half, we were losing 1-0, we took the risk and put Lwamba and Morris together and it was the idea to play them in the wide and to finish with the crosses using Lwamba and Morris in the box.
“Unfortunately Morris got two opportunities with his head he was unlucky to not score. But like I said the most important thing is the performance of the players.
“I’m happy about the performance. I know the result wasn’t good, but it’s the first game and still a lot of games to play and I’m proud about the players. The result will come after.”