THE agent of Bafana Bafana star Tsepo Masilela has criticised national coach Pitso Mosimane for continually playing the left-back when he is not fully fit.

Masilela limped out of Sunday's 1-1 draw with Ethiopia after 35 minutes with a recurring hamstring problem and clearly struggled throughout his time on the pitch, his mistake contributing to the visitors' goal.

But it was a familiar scene. An unfit Masilela limped out of the friendly with Ivory Coast after just 26 minutes last November, and then staggered through to half-time of the 0-0 draw with Senegal in February before being replaced.

His European-based agent, Paschalis Tountouris, said he should never have been in the starting line-up for any of those games.

Sowetan suggested three weeks ago that Masilela would not be fit for the Ethiopia game, but that his selection was likely as Mosimane felt he was his only option at left-back. The irony was that Mamelodi Sundowns' Punch Masenamela was among the best Bafana players on the pitch after his introduction for Masilela.

Tountouris moved to defend his client when he came under fire for his performance.

"Instead of criticising, it is better to give Masilela the time to recover and be ready to dominate during the Afcon (Africa Cup of Nations).

"Pitso never gave him this chance," Tountouris said. "Criticising is always helpful but we must consider the condition of Masilela after a series of injuries this year."

The agent said there was a long history to this debate, with his Spanish club for last season, Getafe, furious that he was called up to play the friendly fixture with Senegal in February.

"Getafe were annoyed because he played even though he was not ready," Tountouris said.

Masilela has developed something of a reputation as a player who does not deal with niggles well, not liking to play through the pain barrier as some players would.

Question marks should also be placed against the selection of Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane against Ethiopia. He played just 154 minutes of football in the second half of last season after suffering a serious knee injury, and limped out of Chiefs' penultimate game of the season against Free State Stars, not to be seen again.