Orlando Pirates talisman Thembinkosi Lorch leads a list of players in the DStv Premiership who are nursing long-term injuries after his coach Fadlu Davids confirmed that 'Nyoso' has been ruled out for the rest of 2021.
The next time fans will see Lorch in a Pirates shirt will be in 2022, and his exact date of return is uncertain.
Pirates coach, Davids was cagey when asked about the 28-year-old's suspicious absence from the Buccaneers squad, having failed to feature in a single match for the club in the 2021/22 season.
"Lorch, we won't see him for the rest of the year... with a long-term injury," Davids told the media about the star player's absence.
This is in addition to the 22 matches the former PSL Player of The Season missed for the Buccaneers last season due to a tear in his abductor muscle.
Lorch is not the only player that is out due to a long-term injury.
Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter has revealed that striker Leonardo Castro is back in his home country of Colombia where he, too, is nursing a long-term injury.
"We've got Leo Castro who is still in Colombia and can't do his rehab yet after his operation – he is totally immobile at the moment. So that (recovery) is way down the road," Baxter told journalists.
There are a number of other players that are on the PSL's ever expanding hospital ward.
Click through the gallery to see the players currently making their way back from long-term injuries.
