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Cape Town - Eric Tinkler admits to being worried as to whether his SuperSport United players will return to the team injury free from international duty.
The Pretoria side are set to take on TP Mazembe in the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup final, with the first-leg clash in the DR Congo on November 17, and the second leg a week later.
But before then, Matsatsantsa players Ronwen Williams, Clayton Daniels, Morgan Gould, Dean Furman and Bradley Grobler will be part of the Bafana Bafana squad that does duty in back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against Senegal.
In addition, the Confederation Cup's leading scorer Jeremy Brockie (10 goals in Africa) will be on duty with New Zealand, while veteran midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane is suspended for the first leg.
"You hope everybody comes back unscathed," the SuperSport head coach told the SowetanLIVE website.
"It's a bit of a concern that I have because it's the two Bafana games and then the final.
"It will be a bit difficult replacing Yeye's experience and creativity."
SuperSport have already played Mazembe in the group phase, with both games ending in draws (0-0 and 2-2).
That was before Tinkler took charge of United, but he says he watched those matches.
"Most teams such as Mazembe did not know who SuperSport was," Tinkler said.
"The only teams they knew of were Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
"I think they got a surprise when they played us. I watched that game and I thought SuperSport did very well."
