Thabo Nthethe is likely to captain Bafana Bafana in a friendly against Lesotho at Setsoto Stadium today.
Itumeleng Khune, who was named as Bafana's permanent captain on Friday, is a yellow card away from suspension in the World Cup qualifiers and could miss the clash against Ethiopia on June 16 if he is booked in the encounter with Central African Republic.
Bafana will play CAR in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Saturday after Fifa moved the game to the neutral venue following political unrest in CAR.
Should coach Gordon Igesund go with the Nthethe captain option in Maseru, the Celtic skipper, will earn his eighth cap for his country.
In Khune's absence Wayne Sandilands will be preferred over Senzo Meyiwa as the goalkeeper. Igesund's thinking is that in the event of Khune getting a yellow in Yaounde, his deputy should have had some match practice. Sandilands will be making only his third appearance for the national team this afternoon.
Bloemfontein Celtic central defender Nthethe is a sure starter for the qualifiers and the Lesotho game will be used to find a suitable partner for him.
One of Tefu Mashamaite, Erick Mathoho or Bevan Fransman will partner Nthethe in central defence.
"They are all quality players and can all do the job," said Nthethe.
On the likelihood of being temporarily handed the armband, Nthethe said: "It will be the second time if I get it because Pitso [Mosimane] gave it to me once [in an unofficial game against Ghana in January last year]."
The Bafana rearguard has been hit by injuries that have sidelined regulars Siyabonga Sangweni, Morgan Gould and Matlaba. Siboniso Gaxa and Siyanda Xulu also withdrew from the squad this week.
Igesund said: "This Lesotho match is strictly to play out different combinations because I have a lot of defenders that have never played together. Most of my changes or substitutions will come from the back." The coach is allowed six substitutions in a friendly international.
Bafana return from Lesotho tomorrow and will depart for the make-or-break, back-to-back World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday.
"We will take a five-hour flight to Douala [Cameroon] via Libreville in Gabon and then only a 45-minute flight to Yaounde," said team manager Barney Kujane, who travelled to inspect facilities in Cameroon and Ethiopia.
The team will stay at the Hilton Hotel in both countries. "We were able to find out that the National Stadium in Yaounde is one of the best, but Ethiopia only has synthetic grass at their training venues, which is a disadvantage to us."
PROBABLE BAFANA XI:
Sandilands, Anele Ngcongca, Nthethe, Bevan Fransman, Tebogo Langerman, Dean Furman, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Thuso Phala, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Katlego Mashego and Bernard Parker
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