Cape Town - University of Pretoria centre-back Vukile Mngqibisa looks set to miss the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with a meniscus tear in his knee.
The injury, similar to the one suffered by Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, requires both surgery and significant rehabilitation in order to fully recover and looks likely to keep Mngqibisa out for at least six months.
"I got an injury when we were playing a friendly match against SuperSport two weeks ago and it is a knee meniscus I was in hospital but now I'm out," Mngqibisa explained to KickOff.
"They said I can't kick the ball for the next five or six months. It is a similar injury to Itumeleng Khune which is a meniscus, and that is what I was told by the doctors.
"Of course nobody likes to be injured because I just arrived at the club and now I suffer this injury while the team is also not doing well," he concluded.
AmaTuks are languishing in 15th place in the Absa Premiership with just five points from their opening nine games and, while attack has been a bigger issue than defence so far, the injury to Mngqibisa will undoubtedly add to their woes, especially as they cannot replace him until January.