Gaston Sirino has suffered a relapse, Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena confirmed to the media on Monday morning.
The Uruguayan was gradually making his way back to playing again after he collided with an opponent during the club's CAF Champions League group stages opener against Al Hilal nearly three weeks ago and broke his nose.
Mokwena said the midfielder featured in a recent friendly match, but then had another setback caused by a calf strain, which is expected to rule him out of the Nedbank Cup round of 16 game against ABC Motsepe League outfit Mathaithai FC on Tuesday night and Al Ahly's visit this weekend in the return leg of their CAF clash.
"Sirino, unfortunately, had a relapse," the coach told journalists.
"It's still the same (with the injury list). We will take a long time if we go through it, the status quo hasn't changed. The doctors will assess some of the players. Maybe only Gaston is now back onto that list having suffered a calf strain in a friendly match on Saturday – that has set him back a little bit after he was recovering from the broken nose incident. Even while he was still getting accustomed to playing with a mask, now unfortunately he has suffered another setback."
Overall, Downs confirmed that seven players were on the mend including Denis Onyango, Mosa Lebusa, new signing Erwin Saavedra, Gift Motupa, Pavol Safranko and Rivaldo Coetzee.
"But Kennedy (Mweene) has proven that when given a chance you have to take it," Mokwena said in reference to the goalkeeper stepping up in Onyango's absence, especially in a big match like the 1-0 win away at Ahly.
"That goes for everybody else. We don't focus too much on who is out, but a lot more on who is available and given them our energy, confidence and belief to carry on and take the baton to continue with this relay."
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