BAFANA Bafana coach Gordon Igesund's trip to England is part of his preparations for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in which SA will open their campaign against Cape Verde Islands at Soccer City on January 19.

The only South African coach to win the league with four different club has scheduled meetings with coaches of clubs who have South African players on their books to discuss his plans for the tournament.

He will also ask them to allow the players to return home for an extra week for a training camp ahead of the tournament Bafana want to win in honour of former assistant coach Thomas Madigage, who died in a car accident two weeks ago.

Igesund is not going to try to influence former skipper Steven Pienaar to change his decision to retire from international soccer, he just wants to have a chat with the Everton midfielder to get to the bottom of his withdrawal from the team.

"Gordon is not desperate to have Schillo (Pienaar) back but just wants to have a man-to-man chat regarding the decision to quit international soccer. If Schillo changes his mind, that will be good too for Bafana Bafana because he is an experienced player," said a source familiar with the developments at Safa.

Igesund could not be reached for comment.