Afcon: Blow for Harambee Stars as defender Brian Mandela is ruled out

Harambee Stars defender Brian Mandela will miss the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Egypt.

The Maritzburg United player injured his knee in during a club training session on Monday and will thus not be available for the competition which kicks off on June 21.

“Brian (Mandela) got injured in training. He is one of our key players and will not be available for Afcon. We will need to find a solution,” coach Sébastien Migné told reporters from Kenya's training camp in France.

“It is not good for us and for him as well. Musa Mohamed also picked up a knock (in Harambee Stars’ friendly match against Madagascar). We cannot take a risk with him against DR Congo but he could be available for Afcon.”

He, however, expressed optimism that he has enough depth to fill the void.

“We won against Ghana without key players. It is always problematic for the coach but we will try to find a solution,” Migne added.

Kenya will play their second friendly match against the Democratic Republic of Congo in Madrid, Spain on June 15 before leaving for Egypt four days later.

They will open Group C's campaign with a match against Algeria on June 23 before playing neighbours Tanzania on June 27 and finishing the preliminary stage with a match against Senegal on July 1.

Kenya will be meeting The Lions of Teranga for the fourth time at an Afcon group stage, as they did in 1990, 1992 and in 2004.

All of Kenya's matches will be staged at the 30 June Stadium in the capital of Egypt, Cairo.