Orlando Pirates have confirmed they will not rush Vincent Pule and Richard Ofori back to the starting line-up in order to protect them after returning from injuries.
Both players have been sidelined with long-term injuries with Ofori last featuring in August last year while Pule was struck down with a Grade III tear of the quad in September.
Coach Mandla Ncikazi confirmed the players are slowly but surely returning to the field of play but Ofori is more likely to return to the starting line-up first, having featured in training matches already.
“It’s one step at a time, Ofori has played a training match so he’s back with us, not in full training, not full contact like everyone else but it’s promising, maybe in the next few weeks we’ll see him in the field of play,” he said.
“Pule may be delayed a bit. Not as fast as Ofori, but he’s also in the process where he does partial training, not full training – we’re just cautious not to cause more harm.
“But they are in the process of coming back and we’re hopeful that in the loaded fixture list we have that maybe at the beginning or end of March – maybe they will be able to play.”
