BY STAFF REPORTER
Kaizer Chiefs will be buoyed by the news that potential match-winner Lebogang Manyama will be fit to face the Moroccan giants,Wydad Casablanca on Saturday.
Chiefs welcome Wydad to FNB Stadium carrying a 1-0 lead from the first leg and keen to come out aggregate winners and proceed to the final for the first time ever.
Manyama was nursing a knee injury and failed a fitness test hours before the team flew out to Casablanca last week.
His return to the striker’s role will see him form a twin spearhead with inspirational Serbian Samir Nurkovic, who left the Wydad defence high and dry last week with a cracking goal after a lightning counter-attack by Chiefs.
Chiefs were able to jet straight back to South Africa after their heroic 1-0 first leg win in Casablanca on Saturday, giving them plenty more time on the training field with coach Stuart Baxter.
But Wydad had to honour a Moroccan league fixture on Tuesday night, which they won 2-0 at RSB Berkane to extend their lead at the top of the domestic championship to sixth place, though they have played a game more than second-placed Raja Casablanca.
It was a ninth match in a month for the side, a punishing run of games that coach Faouzi Benzarti has warned will take its toll on his side.
Wydad do not have a good record in South Africa in their six visits since the first against Mamelodi Sundowns in 2017. They have not managed a win,scored only two goals and were beaten 1-0 by Chiefs in the group stages of the Champions League earlier this campaign.
Chiefs were hoping for more good news on the injury front, but Khama Billiat and Dumisani Zuma have yet to recover fully.
The Soweto giants hold a 1-0 aggregate advantage going into Saturday’s second leg.
