Under-pressure Ajax lose Paulse

Nathan Paulse of Ajax Cape Town with a broken hand during the Absa Premiership match between Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town on 03 February 2016 at Orlando Stadium Pic Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Nathan Paulse of Ajax Cape Town with a broken hand during the Absa Premiership match between Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town on 03 February 2016 at Orlando Stadium Pic Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Published Feb 4, 2016

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Cape Town - As if losing to Orlando Pirates wasn’t bad enough, Ajax Cape Town will be without star Nathan Paulse for the foreseeable future.

The tall target man Paulse sustained a broken left forearm following a clash with Pirates defender Edwin Gyimah, which saw him leave the field within the opening 20 minutes of the 2-1 defeat at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night.

The Urban Warriors announced on their club website on Thursday that Paulse will have surgery on his arm on Friday, which is likely to rule him out for a number of weeks.

A splint was already fitted to Paulse’s arm as he left the field on Wednesday night, and his absence will be a big blow to Roger de Sa’s team as they look to climb out of the bottom four of the Absa Premiership standings in the second half of the season.

Ajax dropped down to 13th on the 16-team log on 19 points after the Pirates defeat, with the Buccaneers moving up one place above the Cape side to 12th on 20, with both teams having played 16 matches.

De Sa lost another stalwart to injury recently in the shape of left winger Franklin Cale, who required an operation to repair a broken cheekbone.

But the Ajax coach will be banking on striker Prince Nxumalo to continue his hot goal-scoring streak in Paulse’s absence. He replaced Paulse against Pirates and scored their only goal in the second half as the Urban Warriors launched a fight back.

Nxumalo had another great chance to equalise with two minutes to go, but his powerful header hit the Pirates crossbar. But he was rewarded for an energetic performance by being named the Man of the Match, despite being on the losing side. He has scored three goals in his last four games.

Ajax will look to pick up the pieces of their league campaign this weekend when they travel to Gauteng once more to take on SuperSport United at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Sunday (3.30pm kickoff).

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