Manqoba Mngqithi has provided an update on the readiness of midfielders Thembinkosi Lorch and Sipho Mbule for Mamelodi Sundowns' second preliminary round first-leg encounter against Mbabane Swallows in the CAF Champions League.
Sundowns are set to kick off their Champions League campaign with an 'away' clash against Eswatini's Mbabane Swallows, to be contested at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday due to the unavailability of stadiums that meet CAF standards in the Mountain Kingdom.
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By their high standards, the Tshwane giants have had something of a disastrous start to their season, losing two of three matches and consequently crashing out of the MTN8.
The defending league champions have also endured somewhat of an injury crisis with several big-name players having not been part of those fixtures.
However, there may finally be light at the end of the tunnel as Mngqithi confirmed that duo Mbule and Lorch had resumed full training and are likely to feature on Saturday after recovering from their respective injuries.
"Lorch is as close as possible to the matchday squad," Mngqithi told journalists at the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
"He played a friendly we played against Sekhukhune [United]. He's been training quite well, it was just unfortunate today he had a minor stiffness in his hamstring and pulled out of training early.
"Otherwise, we are happy with the contribution he might make and we are happy with the commitment and level of professionalism he's shown throughout, from the beginning of the season when he was injured.
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"Sipho is also another player who has started full training. It will all depend on the numbers and everything else, but he can be selected for the team. It's all up to him at this stage because I think he has also been training very well."
The match is scheduled to kick off at 20:00.