McCarthy to arrive injured

2008-09-01 12:15

Johannesburg - Benni McCarthy will report to the Bafana Bafana camp this week with a slight groin injury that kept him out of Blackburn Rovers' defeat at West Ham at the weekend.

McCarthy picked up the injury playing for the national side against Australia on August 19 in London and aggravated it against Hull City for Rovers a few days later.

It kept him out of the weekend's 4-1 loss to the Hammers, but he will travel to South Africa for the crucial 2010 World Cup/Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, according to his agent Rob Moore.

"He will travel to South Africa with a slight knock," Moore says. Bafana need to win the match to have any hope of qualifying for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.

Moore also poured cold water on suggestions in the press that McCarthy or his Rovers teammate and compatriot Aaron Mokoena might leave the club ahead of the transfer deadline on Monday.

"No, no-one is leaving," Moore has confirmed. "There will be no activity today."

Mokoena's place at Blackburn had been thrown in doubt following the arrival of Australian Vince Grella at the club, while McCarthy has struggled to win a starting place in new coach Paul Ince's team, as Roque Santa Cruz and Jason Roberts, who scored at the weekend, keep him on the bench.

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