Bafana Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki has explained the inclusion of Highlands Park full-back Luckyboy Mokoena in his squad for Saturday's international friendly against Zambia.
Mokoena was not in the initial squad, but he was called up on Saturday to replace the injured Thapelo Morena.
Morena, 26, injured himself in Mamelodi Sundowns' match against Otoho d'Oyo, and his team furnished the Bafana technical team with the results of the scan which proved that he wouldn't have recovered in time for the encounter in Lusaka.
According to Ntseki, the Bafana Bafana technical team decided to go with someone who is of the same age as Morena whilst also taking into consideration his form at club level.
"Thapelo Morena got injured against Otoho d'Oyo then he was taken out in that match. He went for a scan on Monday or Tuesday, and they provided us with the results of the scan and it looks like he won't be ready for the Zambian match," Ntseki told Goal.
"So, based on the results of the scan, we thought we needed to bring in somebody who is more or less of the same age. And somebody who has done very well for his team, and in this case, we ended up selecting Luckyboy Mokoena from Highlands Park."
Ntseki's squad assembled in Johannesburg on Sunday night with South Africa-based players the majority in the camp. Several European-based players are only expected to arrive on Monday.
Bafana Bafana will leave for Lusaka on Thursday, but before then, Ntseki will hope to get the best out of his players in training.
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