Amakhosi coach Muhsin Ertugral was left counting the cost of his team's Telkom Knockout triumph on Monday, as it became clear that he will be travelling to Durban for the Absa Premiership clash with AmaZulu minus three of his experienced heads.

Striker Shaun Bartlett and midfielder Tinashe Nengomasha were amongst the eight players who received yellow cards from both teams, during Saturday’s cup final and as they were both already on two yellow cards it means that they will have to sit out the mid week clash.

Bartlett though would have missed the game anyway as he injured himself when he knocked into Sundowns keeper, Brian Baloyi while charging after the ball in the 113th minute of the game. Likewise Thabo Mooki will not travel to Durban as he too picked up an injury in the match, Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral feels that he will have to do some shuffling around but will be able to deal with the missing personnel.

Bartlett pain

Shaun Bartlett was unable to fully take part in the celebrations at the end of the Telkom Cup Final as he was in pain and hobbled off the field after the game, on Monday the Chiefs striker left training early and went for a scan on his injured left leg. Chiefs physiotherapist David Milner said of Bartlett’s injury, “we allowed him Sunday to see if the swelling would heal but since it did not go down much, we sent him off for a scan. The swelling looks quite bad at this time we cannot say for sure how long he will need to recover; he is limping around so we need to give a few more days before we can make any further decision”.

Working around

Muhsin Ertugral has described it as a major disadvantage going into the Amazulu game, minus these players but he is confident that he can work around them, saying “not having these players with us is not the best position to be in. We know the value they add to our team, it is always good to have a hard working player like Tinashe, the experience of Thabo and Shaun’s presence up front gives us a massive advantage”.

The absence of these players does open the door for others as he continued on, “in a season it is going to be part of the process that you will lose players through these kind of occurrences injuries, suspensions and the like. That is why you need to have a back-up plan and we do, the other guys now have to make the most of the chance that has come their way and need to put in the kind of performances that can help them make their places permanent”.