KAIZER Chiefs will use Sunday's Macufe Cup as part of their preparations for the 2014 African Champions League campaign.

Chiefs play Bloemfontein Celtic in this annual two- club tournament at Free State Stadium, which will also see new defender Ivan Bukenya making his debut.

The 21-year-old Bukenya joined Chiefs two weeks ago on a two-year deal with an option from top Iraqi Premier League outfit Arbil SC.

"Except for the players on national duty and the injured Siphiwe Tshabalala, everybody is available for this game," said Chiefs general manager Bobby Motaung yesterday.

"The Macufe Cup is very special to us because it helps to keep our players in great shape during the Fifa week. Our preparations are going very well.

"The coach [Stuart Baxter] and his technical staff are working hard with the players in camp, we want to bring back the title to Naturena.

"It is part of our preparations for the Champions League, which is why we also want to bring other players on board like Ivan, who is settling down well in the team.

"We are well aware that we will be playing a lot of games within [a short] space of time next year, which is happening to Orlando Pirates because of the Champions League.

"The friendlies are important to us, we are using the [friendlies] that we are playing in between the PSL games to prepare our players for the challenge of fixture congestion.

"They have to get used to playing a lot of games."

Motaung also confirmed that striker Lehlohonolo Majoro is back at training after missing their 3-0 win over Polokwane City due to a foot injury.

"Lehlohonolo started training with the team this morning and we are happy to have him back in action," said Motaung yesterday.

The only Chiefs players not available for the Macufe Cup are Itumeleng Khune, Tsepo Masilela, Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Bernard Parker, who are all part of the Bafana Bafana squad to play against Morocco in an international friendly in the North African country tomorrow night.