Cape Town - Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler has expressed concern for his players currently on international duty and is hoping they will return to the club free of injury.
The Buccaneers have three players, Thabo Matlaba, Mpho Makola and Thamsanqa Gabuza in the Bafana Bafana squad that is set to play Angola in a two-leg 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
The South Africans will face the Sable Antelopes away from home on Friday in the first-leg qualifier and again on Tuesday at home in the second-leg.
Pirates will contest the crucial CAF Confederations Cup final first-leg against Etoile du Sahel on November 21 at the Orlando Stadium, and Tinkler hopes his players will come back in one piece in time for their final showdown.
"We have to keep working. You know we will only have the international players a day or two before the finals and we have welcomed that and we just have to make sure and hope they come back injury-free," Tinkler told Soccer Laduma.
"As for the other players we will keep on working with the fitness training and all the other departments to keep the focus and the momentum going on until the finals."