POLOKWANE City will be minus star striker Rodney Ramagalela when they host ABC Motsepe League side African All Stars at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium tonight (7.30pm).
Ramagalela dislocated his shoulder in last Sunday’s Absa Premiership Limpopo derby against Baroka FC, which ended 0-0.
The striker will be out of action for two weeks.
Rise and Shine head coach Luc Eymael said it was a real blow for the team to lose Ramagalela.
“He has been in good form for us and now I have to find a solution to replace him in attack,” said Eymael.
Belgian-born Eymael said he would be making two or three changes for the visit of their third tier opponents: “I need to give some players a rest, such as midfielder Edgar Manaka.
“I also have an eye on our important Premiership match against Mamelodi Sundowns (at Loftus Versfeld) next Tuesday. So I will have to be careful and rotate my players.”
He has one or two players with niggling injuries too, including goalkeeper George Chigowa who suffered a knock against Baroka.
But Eymael does not take Brakpan based All Stars lightly: “All over the world lower league teams rise to the occasion when playing bigger teams in cup matches.
“My biggest worry will be to make sure my players stay fully motivated and not take the lower league opponents for granted.
“We don’t want to be remembered for a cup upset.”
Rise and Shine have notched up five draws in as many league matches in 2017 and Eymael said they would be looking for their first win of the year.
They played All Stars in the same round of the competition last season and won 2-0.
Said Eymael: “I was not here last year but I hope we can repeat that to get our first win of 2017 and advance to the next round.”