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Bruce Chikuni
ZIFA will have to wait a little longer before they know whether or not Warriors’ skipper Marvelous Nakamba will be available for Zimbabwe’s World Cup qualifying assignments against Lesotho and South Africa.
The midfielder has not played competitive football for both club and country since December last year owing to a long-term knee injury.
He did not take part in Luton’s desperate fight against relegation from the English Premiership, a battle which the Hatters eventually lost .
ZIFA had included Nakamba in their squad for the upcoming Group C World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho on June 7 and South Africa, four days later.
Both matches are in Johannesburg and Bloemfontein.
According to an insider at ZIFA, Luton are understood to have indicated that they were still assessing if the midfielder is now ready for action.
Reports claim that Nakamba has been training for the past two months as part of his rehabilitation.
“We have contacted Luton Town regarding the availability of Nakamba ahead of our trip to South Africa but we haven’t received a straightforward answer yet,’’ the source said.
“But chances are very high that he might be released to lead the team, they are still assessing him to see if he is in good shape to play a competitive match since has not been in action for a long time.
“They have promised to let us know their position as soon as possible but they have hinted that they are impressed with the progress he has been making.’’.
Nakamba got off to a fine start for Luton in the English Premiership campaign.
He was leading the tackles chart after the opening seven fixtures of the season with 31.
His progress was then curtailed by the injury he sustained while on Warriors’ duty.
Nakamba is on a three-year deal with Luton whom he joined from Aston Villa last year.
It is also not immediately clear whether Nakamba will make a move from Luton and remain in the Premiership.
Online Reporter