Marumo Gallants coach Dan Malesela has revealed that they are forced to travel to Libya for their CAF commitments with players nursing injuries.
Gallants will take on Al Ahly Tripoli in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup second preliminary round on Wednesday. The clash will take place at Martyrs of February Stadium in Benghazi, Libya at 19:00.
Key players who suffered knocks include captain Lehlohonolo Nonyane and Ayanda Nkili. The pair were forced to sit out of the 2-1 win against Cape Town City at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday. But Malesela is optimistic that the players will recover ahead of the match.
“We can’t change the names because they got injured after the names were submitted and to change the flights is very expensive,” he explained.
“So, we will have to go with them and hope they heal within the team. But the physios are trying hard, let’s see. We didn’t have the two but we will leave with it.”
ON FACING AL AHLY
“I always say until you play a team don’t rule yourself out. And don’t overrate them until you play. I feel for these boys because now we have to take a very long trip to Libya and we will manage the situation because this is our job. This is what we are here for and this is the nature of the game that we wanted to be involved with. So we will take it as it comes.”
GALLANTS CAF JOURNEY
This is the second season in a row that Marumo Gallants find themselves competing in the CAF confederations cup. Last season, they were knocked out of the competition by Democratic Republic of Congo giants TP Mazembe in the same stage. This is after they had caused an upset by eliminating AS vita in the additional second preliminary round.
