Club captain Itumeleng Khune is facing a race against time to be fit as Kaizer Chiefs face Orlando Pirates in a highly-anticipated Soweto derby at the end of October.
The latest edition of the country’s blockbuster fixture will be played on October 29 with Orlando Pirates walking out of the tunnel at FNB Stadium as the home team.
For Khune the bells of worry will revolve around the possibility of missing this epic tie yet again.
READ | Frustrated Pirates striker inching ever closer to exit door
Though his derby appearances count is at 27 and the most for any player still at the club, Khune has not featured in the last 10.
He is now at risk of extending his derby absence to eleven matches.
The last time that he played in this fixture was in November 2018 in the Telkom KnockOut semi-final defeat when Thembinkosi Lorch and Justin Shonga scored for The Bucs.
Since then, Daniel Akpeyi played in nine consecutive while Brandon Petersen in the most recent at Orlando Stadium.
Khune has been the go-to man between the posts for Arthur Zwane in the last seven matches but was forced out in his last due to an injury in his groin area.
Chiefs have confirmed that Khune will miss the game against Chippa United this weekend with his availability for games to be played before the World Cup break not confirmed.
After hosting Chippa at Moses Mabhida on Saturday, AmaKhosi have games against TS Galaxy and AmaZulu before they come up against Pirates.
The forthcoming derby will be played with fans in the stands after the last six having been played before empty seats due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Khune has only ever played for Chiefs in the professional ranks and is in the last year of his contract at the club.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
Click here to register: https://www.snl24.com/auth/signin
