AmaZulu welcome back Biyela, Chabalala
AmaZulu will have midfield anchor Bafo Biyela and recently-signed striker Collins Chabalala back from the casualty department as they bid to reverse a string of defeats in Wednesday's clash with Ajax Cape Town in the Absa Premiership in KwaMashu.
Biyela missed the club's last two matches, a 3-0 loss away to Mamelodi Sundowns in the league last Wednesday and a 1-0 home defeat by SuperSport United in the Telkom Knockout three days earlier, because of influenza, while Chabalala's knee injury kept him out of all five games played by Usuthu this season.
Both players are expected to start tomorrow's match and Kampamba Chintu is also likely to make his debut in defence, as concerned coach Clive Barker seeks to end a run of three losses in a row.
"For the first time, we have a decent number of players to chose from in most departments, although the two strikers Dumisani Ngwenya and Myron Shongwe are still out injured," said Barker, who also missed rightback Jan Sillo in the match against Sundowns in Pretoria through an unspecified personal problem.
Confident
"Ajax are a young, confident side and we'll have to try to stop them from playing. What was so worrying against Sundowns was that we did not create a lot of scoring chances. Finishing seemed to be the problem in the games before that, but that dried up against Sundowns."
Chabalala, who was signed as a free agent at the beginning of the season after a spell with Free State Stars, is tipped to replace veteran Sean Dundee in the front line, while Chintu's debut is likely to come at the expense of Sanele Majola.
Since injuries are a smaller problem for the club this week, their fans will really be hoping for a turnaround. Another loss could signal a struggling season ahead.
Overall, Usuthu have had three losses and one win in the league, in addition to the Cup defeat to SuperSport.