It seems as though Gordon Igesund’s Bafana  Bafana defence may have been dealt yet another blow after Siyanda Xulu came off the field in his relegation play-off for FC Rostov last night, carrying an injury.

According to reports, the 21-year-old went over on his ankle and aggravated an earlier injury, which subsequently saw him substituted 70 minutes into his team’s 2-0 win over SKA Energiya.

While the defender had a good game up until that point, and his team now have the upper hand going into the second leg on June 3rd, it looks as though he won’t be available for international duty.

However, it remains to be seen whether Igesund will opt to call-up another player, should Xulu’s absence be confirmed, or whether he will decide to stick with the 23-man squad that he has without the centre-back.

If Xulu does pull out of the squad, he will be the third defender to do so after both Siboniso Gaxa and Tsepo Masilela withdrew due to injury.