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Cape Town - Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has lamented the loss of forward Leonardo Castro to injury, while revealing the importance of signing Yannick Zakri.
Masandawana recorded a 3-1 victory against arch-rivals SuperSport United in the MTN8 quarter-finals on Sunday, but the match was marred by injury concerns to Leonardo Castro, Tiyani Mabunda and Keagan Dolly for Mosimane's side.
The Chloorkop-based outfit's mentor highlighted the loss of Castro, who he expects to be out for the duration of the CAF Champions League tournament.
"I think he will be out for the semi-final and I think we might finish the tournament without him because the injury was big. I hope he comes back for the final, because I believe we will reach it." Mosimane told reporters.
"We'll manage with Leo being out in the local league because we've got Vilakazi and Yannick Zakri, but when we got Champions League we have a problem."
Sundowns are set for a frenetic September schedule where they will compete in eight matches across three respective competitions in the Champions League, MTN8 and Premiership.
Mosimane, who named Zakri on the substitutes bench against SuperSport, is adamant the loss of the Columbian forward will not be greatly felt, due to the acquisition of the Ivorian.
"He's very important for us, especially now Leo (Castro) is out. On the bench today we didn't have a striker. He's a striker, but also a winger," Mosimane added.
"He's powerful and I'm excited to see what he can do. I hope he can score the goals he scored in the Champions League, that tournament has opened doors for us to see Africa and see good players."
