Injured Mgosi might miss TP Mazembe tie

Dar es Salaam. Simba prolific striker Mussa Hassan  'Mgosi' faces a lengthy layoff after sustaining a hamstring injury, which might rule him out of the African Champions League first leg match against TP Mazembe of DR Congo.

The speedy attacker picked the injury during a Premier League clash pitting the Msimbazi Street outfit against Ruvu Shooting on Wednesday.Apart from the TP Mazembe encounter, Simba will also miss the services of their diminutive, but lethal marksman when they clash with AFC at Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium tomorrow.

Team head coach Patrick Phiri said it was a big blow to be without Mgosi in tomorrow’s match, but was confident his team would clobber the relegation-haunted opponents “I think he damaged his ligaments and that take long to heal, but let us wait and see how quick he can recover,” the Zambian tactician said.

Hamstring injuries always take a month or so to heal.Phiri said: “Mgosi is definitely ruled out of the AFC match, but that will not prevent us from winning simply because we’ve many quality strikers to deputise. “Shiboli (Ahmed) is settling really well, he scored a good goal against Ruvu Shooting, so we’ve high hopes of bagging the three points at stake,” the coach added.

The Zambian said they were keeping their fingers crossed for Mgosi to shake off the injury in time to face the two-time African champions come March 20. “It will be bad news for us to miss him when we confront the Congolese team. Let’s hope that he will recover before the match day,” he said.Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, Mgosi said he was saddened by the injury, which might keep him out of action for a long time.

“Definitely I will not play on Saturday (tomorrow) against AFC…I want to be involved in all league matches, but injuries keep on recurring.“I hate watching the match from the stands, but there is no way out now, it will take some time before I regain my fitness,” he said. Mgosi, who scored an equaliser against Young Africans, harboured hopes of shaking off the hamstring problem in time to face TP Mazembe.

“Hopefully I will be fit enough to play, but it will depend on what my physician will say.”Other Simba players who are on the treatment table include: Abdulhalim Humud, Hillary Echessa and Joseph Owino. The Msimbazi Reds would depart for Lubumbashi next Sunday ahead of their clash with TP Mazembe.