BAFANA Bafana right-back Anele Ngcongca is set to miss the start of the new season in Belgium with a hamstring injury.

The 26-year-old, who recently signed a new four-year contract with KRC Genk, also missed a friendly against Serbian side Red Star Belgrade this week.

The club confirmed on their website that the fullback will be missing for "several weeks", a blow for them to be missing one of their most experienced stars.

Genk start their new Belgian season on July 27 and there seems little hope Ngcongca will be ready.

The new national team coach, set to be announced that same weekend, will hope he is fit for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sudan and Nigeria in early September.

The South African Football Association confirmed this week that they will name the new Bafana coach on Saturday next week.

The coach was due to be named this weekend.

Safa spokesman Dominic Chimhavi told Sowetan on Tuesday the only thing stopping the association from naming the coach was that some of national executive members were away this week.

Ngcongca joined Genk in 2007 and had looked set to leave the club in this transfer window after teams from Turkey, Greece, Germany and France all showed interest.

But his new four-year contract makes him one of the longest-serving players on the team and one who has great respect in the dressing room, having been handed the captain's armband on occasion last season.