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Themba Zwane in contention to face Pitso Mosimane's Al Ahly in Champions League showdown

Mahlatse Mphahlele Sports reporter
Mamelodi Sundowns players during the Mamelodi Sundowns training session at Lucas Moripe Stadium on May 20, 2021 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Mamelodi Sundowns players during the Mamelodi Sundowns training session at Lucas Moripe Stadium on May 20, 2021 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images

Influential Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Themba Zwane is in contention to take his place against Egyptian powerhouses Al Ahly in the highly anticipated Champions League quarterfinal clash at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday.

‘Mshishi’ missed Sundowns' 0-2 defeat to the Red Devils in the first leg in Cairo but coach Manqoba Mngqithi said on Thursday his star player trained this week with no signs of discomfort.

“Based on the report that we got from the doctors and the training that he had yesterday (Wednesday)‚ it looks very positive‚” said Mngqithi on Thursday.

“The doctors have indicated that he is looking well and during the training session he felt no pain. He has been training regularly trying to get himself fit‚ and we are more than optimistic that he will help us.”

Zwane‚ who also missed Sundowns’ recent 1-0 DStv Premiership win over TS Galaxy‚ was dearly missed during the first leg and will play a big role for them if is he is cleared to play.

“Upon analysing the first leg‚ and we have done a lot on the game already‚ we do believe that Mshishi will play an immense role in the second leg.

"There are a lot of openings that he could have [found] for us. There are areas that we feel he normally occupies and were not occupied the way would have liked for them to be occupied.

"We do believe that if he comes in‚ he is definitely somebody who can help the team achieve our objectives.”