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Benni McCarthy confirms three Covid-19 cases at AmaZulu ahead of Bloemfontein Celtic clash
The Premier League club has confirmed that three of their players have contracted coronavirus as they prepare for their first outing of the year
AmaZulu's head coach Benni McCarthy has confirmed that his side will be missing three players to Covid-19 when they take on Bloemfontein Celtic in a Premier Soccer League encounter on Sunday.
Midfield mainstay Makhehleni Makaula, left-back Sibusiso Mabiliso, and veteran attacker Siphiwe Tshabalala are the three players that have tested positive.
''Obviously, it wasn’t the ideal start because we were expected to start on the 2nd [2 January] against Kaizer Chiefs, but we understand the circumstances with Chiefs playing in the Caf Champions League in Africa,’’ McCarthy told the club’s media office.
''So the game was postponed which gave us a little bit more time to prepare for Bloemfontein Celtic, get all our ducks in one basket and just work on the technical aspects and how we can build from the great performance we had against Chippa [United].
‘’A lot of good things came from that game, so we just had to continue from there.
''Unfortunately, we got hit with three players being positive and had to self-isolate and that disrupted. Makaula was one of them who played in the match against Chippa, Mabililso was the second one who had a fantastic game, so we are losing one of our offensive left-back players but we got experience coming back and Shabba [Tshabalala], just for the group, for the atmosphere, for the experience he brings to the group.
''So, when you lose three players like this then you need to rotate the squad and find different solutions.
''But I think everybody has been working hard and everyone is really up for the future, and the future is in two days [Sunday].
''Hopefully, we can continue from the good game we had against Chippa. We know it's a different opponent. Celtic is formidable, very tricky, very quick.
''In Bloem, they are very difficult, but to our advantage, they won't have their 12th man with them, because they have great support with fans who get really behind them.''
With the coronavirus crisis worsening in South Africa and globally, with 21,980 new cases recorded in the past week - a new high for the country, Usuthu are among the few teams who have confirmed positive cases. Cape Town City and Chippa United also confirmed three cases each ahead of their midweek fixtures.
