Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele has confirmed that a star midfielder will be unavailable for their Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup opener against Mozambique.
Ethan Brooks was set to play a leading role for a young Bafana Bafana side, who touched down in Durban on Sunday to begin their defence of their title.
View all the preparations for Bafana Bafana's COSAFA opener
However, addressing journalists on Monday, Mkhalele confirmed that the newly-signed AmaZulu midfielder is the country's only notable absentee after sustaining a slight knee injury in the build-up to the match.
"I'd say preparations went well even though we had some challenges, and those challenges were in relation to some of the injuries that we experienced during our preparations, but at this stage I'm so happy to announce that the whole squad is back – except Ethan Brooks," Mkhalele told journalists.
"He sustained a minor knee injury that we are nursing, hoping that after our game against Mozambique he will be ready," he explained.
Despite the setback, Mkhalele and his side are upbeat about facing a Mozambique side who they managed to beat enroute to lifting the title in the 2021 edition of the competition in Port Elizabeth.
"I would say it is a tough game, because of their competitiveness and they are a physical team so we need to make sure that we overcome that challenge, but what will make this game more interesting is that Mozambique will be coming for revenge because we beat them in the semi-final of COSAFA so they will be trying by all means to reverse the score," he added.
Kick off times for the match is at 17:00 at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday.
