Johannesburg - Desiree Ellis says the unavailability of some of her Banyana Banyana senior players will serve as a perfect opportunity for her juniors to prove they have what it takes to be part of her squad moving forward.
Banyana will take on Egypt in a friendly encounter this Saturday at Dobsonville Stadium (Kick-off 3pm) as part of their preparations leading up to the upcoming Africa Women Cup of Nations, set to take place in Cameroon next month.
For this clash, Ellis will be without the services of Amada Dlamini, US-based centre-forward Jermaine Seoposenwe, Leandra Smeda and Sana Mollo.
But Banyana’s interim coach insisted that this was no train smash on her side.
“Amanda Dlamini was call-up,” Ellis said. “Unfortunately she couldn’t join us because she had to be in France. We knew that it was always going to be a bit difficult to get players, especially from overseas teams because this match will not be played on a Fifa date. However, I’m confident in the squad we have assembled. This is more of an opportunity for our juniors to step up and prove that they have what it takes to be part of this squad moving forward.”
Meanwhile, Ellis said she wasn’t too sure whether or not her side will have another friendly before they jet off to Cameroon, as they are still waiting for Safa’s Technical director Neil Tovey to recover from hospital.
“We were scheduled to have a meeting with both of our Technical Directors this week but, as you know, we couldn’t because Neil Tovey is still recovering from a heart attack he had,” Ellis said. “This team hasn’t played for the past two months and we are hoping to get them ready as soon as possible. Hopefully this meeting will take place in the near future to discuss our way forward.”
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