Talented defender, Jeffrey Ntuka is hopeful that he will be ready to play by the time Chiefs meet Sundowns in what promises to be a thrill-a-minute encounter at Absa Stadium, in Durban on Thursday 23 April 2009.

Ntuka was missing when Chiefs traveled to Port Elizabeth after being a victim of a vicious tackle from a Free State Stars player a weekend before.

“I was disappointed to miss the game against Bay United. I am happy though that we returned to our winning ways to keep the pressure on both SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates.

We are all now looking forward to the game against Mamelodi Sundowns,” he told kaizerchiefs.com on Tuesday morning.

“I am hoping to be back at training before the end of the week. We have been playing well lately so I want to be part of the team depending on what the coach decides as other guys did well in my absence.

The games between the two sides have always been entertaining affairs and as a player you look forward to participating in those games,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dave Milner has revealed that the four, Jose Torrealba, Valery Nahayo, Reneilwe Letsholonyane including Ntuka should be ready for the game.

“Yeye (Reneilwe Letsholonyane) started straight jogging today (Tuesday) with no coordination. He is responding very well. The same with Jose Torrealba who also started jogging without any pain following a hamstring injury he suffered two weeks ago.

Jeffrey (Ntuka) who was a victim of vicious tackle against Free State Stars has not yet started training but we are hopeful that by Wednesday or Thursday he will be back at training.

Valery Nahayo has a pain on his upper back but it is nothing serious, we are hopeful he will be ready by the time we play our next game but they will not be rushed,” revealed Dave Milner.