Winger George Lebese is set to be unavailable for Kaizer Chiefs’ Absa Premiership match against Bloemfontein Celtic at Free State Stadium tonight, having handed himself to police for an “incident”.
Lebese is alleged to have assaulted his girlfriend in Mamelodi on Sunday and damaged a car. A statement on Chiefs’ website late yesterday afternoon read: “The player has handed himself over to the relevant authorities and the matter is being attended to.”
Chiefs media manager Vina Maphosa was evasive as to whether Lebese travelled with the team to Bloemfontein.
“We only found out about the incident while we were travelling to Bloemfontein,” was all Maphosa would say, adding: “Lebese was part of our pre-match training.”
Chiefs’ influential joint-top league scorer Lebese has notched five goals in 14 matches.
Amakhosi goalkeeper-coach Rainer Dinckelacker, meanwhile, has arrived in the middle of a healthy keeping quandary for the club, who will wrestle with the choice of fielding Brilliant Khuzwayo or Itumeleng Khune against Celtic.
Khune’s return to fitness leaves Amakhosi coach Stuart Baxter with a potentially difficult choice, as youngster Khuzwayo has deputised excellently in the Chiefs captain’s injury absence since September.
Baxter said this week he will confide with Dinckelacker on the big decision. “Itu has been doing well at training. It is possible that he is ready to play now. I will speak to the goalkeeper-coach before making a decision,” the coach told PSL.com.
Dinckelacker, who had retired prematurely at the end of the 2012-13 season because of a knee injury, has had successful operations and did not hesitate returning to Amakhosi.
“He’s a legend – an icon of goalkeeper training,” Chiefs’ football manager, Bobby Motaung said.
“Once he went through his knee operations and rehabilitations he contacted us to say he’s readily available.”
Dinckelacker has arguably the best goalkeeping department in the PSL to work with. His input will be especially invaluable for younger keepers Khuzwayo and Reyaad Pieterse who, talented as they clearly are, still have deficiencies to be ironed out.
Tonight Chiefs will aim to continue where they left off with their metronomic 18-match unbeaten run until the PSL break in December, winning 14 of those. But Amakhosi will also be aware that a defeat away to Celtic will give second-placed Mamelodi Sundowns just a scent of optimism they can reel in a big, double-figure gap.
Celtic coach Clinton Larsen has big Botswana international winger Joel Mogorosi back from a muscle strain.
Chiefs will need to figure out their strategy upfront now that Kingston Nkhatha – the battering ram centre-forward whose aggression was key to Baxter’s gameplan – has transferred to SuperSport United.
Chiefs sit with Lebese headache
Lebese is alleged to have assaulted his girlfriend in Mamelodi on Sunday and damaged a car. A statement on Chiefs’ website late yesterday afternoon read: “The player has handed himself over to the relevant authorities and the matter is being attended to.”
Chiefs media manager Vina Maphosa was evasive as to whether Lebese travelled with the team to Bloemfontein.
“We only found out about the incident while we were travelling to Bloemfontein,” was all Maphosa would say, adding: “Lebese was part of our pre-match training.”
Chiefs’ influential joint-top league scorer Lebese has notched five goals in 14 matches.
Amakhosi goalkeeper-coach Rainer Dinckelacker, meanwhile, has arrived in the middle of a healthy keeping quandary for the club, who will wrestle with the choice of fielding Brilliant Khuzwayo or Itumeleng Khune against Celtic.
Khune’s return to fitness leaves Amakhosi coach Stuart Baxter with a potentially difficult choice, as youngster Khuzwayo has deputised excellently in the Chiefs captain’s injury absence since September.
Baxter said this week he will confide with Dinckelacker on the big decision. “Itu has been doing well at training. It is possible that he is ready to play now. I will speak to the goalkeeper-coach before making a decision,” the coach told PSL.com.
Dinckelacker, who had retired prematurely at the end of the 2012-13 season because of a knee injury, has had successful operations and did not hesitate returning to Amakhosi.
“He’s a legend – an icon of goalkeeper training,” Chiefs’ football manager, Bobby Motaung said.
“Once he went through his knee operations and rehabilitations he contacted us to say he’s readily available.”
Dinckelacker has arguably the best goalkeeping department in the PSL to work with. His input will be especially invaluable for younger keepers Khuzwayo and Reyaad Pieterse who, talented as they clearly are, still have deficiencies to be ironed out.
Tonight Chiefs will aim to continue where they left off with their metronomic 18-match unbeaten run until the PSL break in December, winning 14 of those. But Amakhosi will also be aware that a defeat away to Celtic will give second-placed Mamelodi Sundowns just a scent of optimism they can reel in a big, double-figure gap.
Celtic coach Clinton Larsen has big Botswana international winger Joel Mogorosi back from a muscle strain.
Chiefs will need to figure out their strategy upfront now that Kingston Nkhatha – the battering ram centre-forward whose aggression was key to Baxter’s gameplan – has transferred to SuperSport United.
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