PSL teams should brace themselves for an increase in injuries as they gear up for the season restart this week.
Steve Komphela reckons there will be increased pressure on the medical staff, with the workload expected to go up significantly as a result of back-to-back fixtures.
According to the revised PSL fixture list, there will be games played every day as the league strives to complete the season within a stipulated time.
The Nedbank Cup semi-finals will kick off the restart on Saturday, in what will be the first matches since the Absa Premiership was suspended in mid-March, following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Like his peers, Komphela, the Golden Arrows coach, has been putting his charges through their paces ahead of the season restart, with the race to get players fit well and truly on.
“We are looking forward to the challenge in the last seven remaining matches. We know the games will be coming thick and fast,” said Komphela.
“We just have to cope and hope we won’t have too many injuries. But I anticipated a lot of teams, naturally so, will be struggling with a number of injuries. We just hope they are not too bad so we can see the season over.
“The study and data collected have shown that there were lots of injuries and they’re still happening. I’m sure South Africa is not going to be different. We just hope they don’t become a hindrance. It is just seven matches left.
“We didn’t have many injury concerns before the suspension kicked in. We had come from a solid pre-season, had played matches and the loading of the players was sufficiently scientific.
“Now there has been an issue about the restart. We have been doing training sessions via zoom and we only just got back to the training field.”
Abafana Bes’thende will be away to Stellenbosch at Tuks Stadium next week. But Komphela’s concerns are valid, given that many teams globally faced similar challenges on return to the pitch.
It is a sentiment also shared by both Clinton Larsen of Polokwane City and Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane, whose key players battled with injuries even prior to the suspension.
Sundowns face Bidvest Wits in the first Ke Yona semi-final at Orlando Stadium on Saturday while Baroka meet Bloemfontein Celtic later in the evening.
Stringent health measures have been put in place and lockdown regulations will apply.
