Sekhukhune United coach Papi Zothwane has addressed the ongoing absence of club captain Daniel Cardoso, explaining why the veteran defender has been left out of the squad in recent fixtures.

Cardoso has not featured for the Betway Premiership side since the resumption of domestic football following the FIFA international break.

The 38-year-old’s last match was on 19 September 2026 when Sekhukhune beat Richards Bay FC 3-2 away from home. The former Kaizer Chiefs player was a notable absentee when Sekhukhune beat Marumo Gallants 2-1 last week and during the 3-1 win against Richards Bay in the Carling Knockout Cup Last 16 match on Sunday.

Speaking to journalists after the win against Richards Bay at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday, Zothwane confirmed that Cardoso had suffered an injury, but is now back in training.”

WHY DANIEL CARDOSO HAS BEEN MISSING IN ACTION FOR SEKHUKHUNE UNITED

​”[Daniel] Cardoso was injured, and in the process of his injury, we had [Tsepo] Matsimbi and Samba [O’Neil] doing very well,” said Zothwane. ​”We have to manage him [Cardoso] again in terms of the load and the games that he has to play based on the intensity of the games.”

​”That’s why we’re alternating with Bright [Ndlovu], and he’s still part of the team; he’s still going to be part of the squad.”

​”So he’s at home based on the injury, but he’s training well, he’s back, he can be in the team soon as long as he performs well in training, he’ll be in the team.”

PAPI ZOTHWANE LEFT IMPRESSED AFTER HIS TEAM PROCEEDED TO THE CARLING QUARTER-FINALS

Meanwhile, Zothwane also praised his players, saying they controlled the match during the win against Richards Bay.

“I’m very excited with the performance of the players. They fought and got a victory against a team that is rejuvenated, based on how their coach [Dimitar Pantev] wants them to play. To sum it up, we did very well in the first half and controlled the game. We should have scored one or two goals.

“But we allowed them to get back into the game in the last ten minutes. We had to move things around and tell the players at halftime: ‘if you don’t convert the chances, Richards Bay is going to punish us.So, we have to punish them before they can punish us’. The attitude was a bit different in the second half, where our intention was to score by all means, and we had moments where we were supposed to score.”