When we have been playing over a weekend, I usually follow it up with a column on a Monday where we usually run through the our weekend's performance. Starting this week I have opted to do this address on a weekly basis on either a Wednesday or a Thursday, as I feel that putting up my column in the middle of the week will allow me to both assess the game that has passed and our preparation for the next game.

With that out of the way I am sure most of you will want to know what is happening in the camp ahead of our game against Santos this coming weekend in Port Elizabeth. My major concern going into that game is that we have seven players who could miss the match through injury or suspension.

One of our problems could be up front as Shaun Bartlett has joined Kaizer Junior on the injury list; Kaizer has not recovered sufficiently from an ankle injury which forced him to exit our game against Swallows which was at the start of April. Coupled with that we still have Tinashe Nengomasha absent you might recall he got sent off against Swallows, having sat out the Leopards game he has to miss one match and will not be making the trip to Port Elizabeth with us.

Mulling too much over these losses will not help us much as we knew about these injuries early on in the week and had to come up with a plan B, which we will institute for Sunday’s game.

With all the injury problems there is one bit of good news and that is the recovery of Siyabonga Nkosi who will be available for selection. Nkosi’s availability will help strengthen us in the midfield and his ability to get forward and open up spaces for the front men will definitely be a plus factor for us.

Thabo Mooki is also looking in fine form he played for the reserves on Monday and he came through that test without any discomfort, so having his experience with Nkosi’s guile and attacking ability will give us strength in the midfield battle.

Santos, our opponents on Sunday have a game in midweek which can be a particularly draining encounter for them as it is a cup game. Having had the extra time to rest, we will be fresher which means that we will be able to make the opposition do most of the running.

I have heard that their leading scorer Ervin Isaacs could miss the game as he injured his shoulder on the weekend; although Isaacs has been getting goals for them they do still have a number of dangerous players in their ranks. From my past experience of playing against them I have found Santos to be a team who don’t stop attacking for ninety minutes, in the past teams that I have coached have been in commanding positions against Santos.

There have been times when my teams have been leading them but we made a few slip ups and let them back in the game, on Sunday we will need to guard against being complacent should we take the lead. We will not sit back but will go for the jugular and ensure that we finish off the game; our aim is to get back our shape and play an exciting attacking brand of football.

Well that is all I have to add today, I am looking forward to getting through the Santos game with a win which will boost our confidence next week when we begin our preparations for our much awaited clash against Orlando Pirates.

Kosta Papic