Mulomowandau Mathoho will be ready to face Maritzburg United in the MTN8 next week after recovering from a toe injury‚ Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela said.

Mathoho returned to training last week after missing pre- season and Komphela is confident the defender will be fit enough to be considered for selection as Amakhosi look to defend their MTN8 title.

Mathoho’s return is a big boost for Komphela‚ who needs a solid defensive partnership to have a shot at repeating Amakhosi’s extraordinary feats of last season.

With Mathoho and Tefu Mashamaite in defence last term‚ Chiefs won the MTN8 without conceding a goal and they finished the Absa Premiership campaign with 14 in the goals-against column.

Following the departure of Mashamaite‚ Komphela is likely to partner Mathoho with new recruit Siyanda Xulu in central defence against his former side Maritzburg next Wednesday at FNB Stadium.

“Tower is coming up nicely. He has started training with the team. From injury he went to rehab. From rehab he went to fitness. And then from there we throw him on the field. He should be ready (for the MTN8)‚” Komphela said.

“Xulu has done very well in the pre-season. We had serious problems during pre-season in central defence. Morgan (Gould) was out. (Daniel) Cardoso was out. We had to use Lorendzo Gordinho and Xulu and they did very well. Here and there we used (Ivan) Bukenya.”

Komphela is excited about meeting his former colleagues at Maritzburg‚ but he knows they will be a different side to the one he guided to a top-eight finish last season.

“You give birth to a snake and you want to face it and it knows everything about you. It should be nice meeting old friends. They know that I know them‚ but I do not know what they have been doing and I am sure their approach will be different.”

The former Bafana Bafana skipper says he is yet to decide who will captain the team in the coming season. Siphiwe Tshabalala was captain during the King’s Cup in Swaziland recently and he could be the man to wear the armband this season.

“The process is still on. The club takes care of that and the announcement will be made once that process is completed.”