vory Coast Jean Michael Seri and South Africas defender, Thamsanqa Mkhize, June 2019Gettyimages

Afcon 2019: Bafana Bafana handed Furman boost ahead of Morocco clash

South Africa head coach Stuart Baxter has issued an injury update ahead of Bafana Bafana’s final Africa Cup of Nations Group D game against Morocco on Monday.

Bafana were without influential midfielder Dean Furman, who was injured for the clash against Namibia as they walked away with a 1-0 win, while full-back Thamsanqa Mkhize was taken off in the second-half with a concussion.

However, they have been handed a boost ahead of their must-win encounter, with Baxter confirming that the pair have returned to training and are up for selection.

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“The team feels a bit settled. The players are believing, Dean trained on Saturday and is looking fine while Thami Mkhize’s concussion is ok,” Baxter was quoted as saying by Safa's website.

This leaves the 65-year-old with a midfield conundrum, considering Hlompho Kekana was fielded as a replacement for Furman against Namibia.

Meanwhile, with Morocco seen as a formidable force on the continent having already secured qualification the next round, Baxter expects a tough test for Bafana, but feels his team are finally hitting their stride at the competition.

“Morocco were strong against Ivory Coast, have a very experienced team and will be a tough opponent for us. But we feel that we are settling more and more into a good rhythm and we feel we can give a good game,” he explained.

“The players are quite confident and the preparations have been going quite well.

"We were a bit late with our preparations because of some cancelled games so these games in the tournament are actually bringing us closer together to where we want to be. We are quite confident."

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