Cape Town City boss Jan Olde Riekerink is hoping to capitalise on Fagrie Lakay’s goalscoring international break this weekend.
Lakay found the back of the net for South Africa U23 during their recent friendlies in Saudi Arabia and he’s backing the Tokyo Olympics hopeful to fire when City host Bloem Celtic at Cape Town Stadium on Sunday.
With only Mdu Mdantsane registering goals for City in the league this season, the boss reckons Lakay will be ready to rumble.
He says of Lakay and his national teammate Shane Roberts: “It was a good experience for them. They will recuperate and on Friday they will be fit.”
The Dutchman expects Celtic to be a tough nut to crack after reaching the MTN8 final and he believes Johan Maduka’s manne are coming here to whet their appetite for victory.
And he warns: “Bloemfontein qualified for the MTN8 final and I think they are a team that are performing well at this moment.
“So it will be a challenging game. They will come full strength. They will see this game as preparation for the final and they will see this as an opportunity to get points.
“We will have to be better”
Regarding his two recovered Covid-19 cases – skipper Thami Mkhize and Abbubaker Mobara – Riekerink says he will monitor them individually.
He says: “We try to take every precaution to protect the players from infection. But still it happens.
“It affects everyone differently, so we will see how they are.”
Weekend PSL fixtures
Saturday
Golden Arrows v Kaizer Chiefs (3.30pm)
Black Leopards v Maritzburg United (3.30pm)
Orlando Pirates v SuperSport United (6pm)
Swallows v TS Galaxy (8.15pm)
Sunday
Tshakhuma FC v Baroka
Mamelodi Sundowns v AmaZulu (both 3.30pm)