Pitso Mosimane’s men will welcome the Harambee Stars to Orlando Arena in Soweto on Friday before heading to Nairobi for the return fixture next Tuesday.

The national team held their first training session under Mosimane at Milpark Stadium on Monday evening, although the coach is still waiting for several overseas-based players to complete their journeys to South Africa.

Among those expected to arrive in Johannesburg on Monday night are United States-based Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Lyle Foster and Puso Dithejane, as well as European-based Relebohile Mofokeng and Sphephelo Sithole. Samukele Kabini is expected to join the squad on Tuesday.

Ronwen Williams - Morgan Piek

With limited preparation time and players arriving from different time zones, managing workloads and ensuring everyone is fit for Friday's encounter will be high on Mosimane's priority list.

The Bafana coach acknowledged that international football comes with its own challenges, particularly when it comes to assembling a squad from across the globe.

“There are no complaints at the moment – everyone who was supposed to be in camp is here,” said Mosimane.

“All the local players have arrived, while we received some of the international players today. Others are arriving at different times because of their playing schedules and time zones. Some of the players based in the US are playing early on Sunday, so we expect them to arrive in the evening, which will give us a full squad.”

There are no major injury concerns at this stage, although the medical team will keep a close eye on a few players carrying minor knocks from their weekend commitments.

“So far, the players who have arrived have received the green light from the doctor – obviously, there are a few knocks from the weekend's matches that could take a day or two to clear up,” Mosimane added.

“We still need to assess those who played in the US, after which we will have a full injury update.

“The medical team will let us know if there are any concerns. That's how it is in the national team – you don't really know who is available until perhaps three days before the match.

Teboho Mokoena - Morgan Piek

“Some players might arrive with minor knocks that need a day or two to recover.”

Mosimane admitted that the stop-start nature of international preparations is part and parcel of the job, with travelling, recovery and late arrivals leaving coaches with precious little time on the training pitch.

“That's the life of international football as a coach. You don't have four or five days as you would like, because a day and a half is already taken up by travelling. You also have those small knocks and bruises to deal with.

Lyle Foster - Morgan Piek

“But, at the moment, so far, so good. There are no major concerns. We'll see how everyone feels when we start training, but we're good.”

Bafana will be keen to make home advantage count in the opening encounter, with Kenya expected to provide a stern test over the two legs.

The first leg takes place at Orlando Arena on Friday, with kick-off scheduled for 18:00.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport