Brentford midfielder Kamohelo Mokotjo has emerged as an injury worry for Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki ahead of the vital 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against São Tomé and Príncipe in March.
Mokotjo was replaced at halftime of Brentford’s 1-0 FA Cup loss to Leicester City last weekend and has since been spotted with a leg brace and on crutches.
Brentford have been cagey about his injury status, with a club spokesperson telling TimesLIVE they were not ready to release any information about his condition.
“Any comment on Kamohelo’s status will be done once he and the medical team are happy. This may come from him directly or from the club depending on the circumstances,” the spokesperson said.
It does not paint a pretty picture of his immediate eligibility, or whether he will be fit for Bafana’s crucial home and away qualifiers against the Atlantic Ocean islanders.
The back-to-back clashes will be played in the Fifa International window between March 23 and 31, which was initially earmarked for the start of the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
The change happened because Caf flipped the schedule and brought the Nations Cup preliminaries forward.
Mokotjo has been a key figure for Brentford this season with his passing accuracy and intense work rate making him one of the best midfielders in the English Championship.
He has started two of the three games Bafana have played under Ntseki in the form of the 2-1 friendly win over Mali and the 1-0 Nations Cup qualifier success against Sudan.
He also featured in every game of Bafana’s run to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Nations Cup in Egypt and if he is unavailable Bongani Zungu may be the one to fill his shoes.
Ntseki will also have other options like Dean Furman, Thulani Serero and Lebogang Phiri.
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