Bidvest Wits have turned down Mpumalanga Black Aces’ request to take goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane on a season-long loan deal.

Aces, who only have two keepers on their books in Calvin Marlin and Bafana Nhlapo, had enquired about the former youth international last month.

Mabokgwane has found himself further down the pecking order following the arrival of Moeneeb Josephs and Denis Onyango, while the club still has teenage keepers Steven Hoffman and Jethren Barr.

Wits CEO Jose Ferreira confirms there was interest in Mabokgwane’s services from Aces, but that they will not be releasing him.

“There was interest from Aces, but we are not doing anything there because we need him. After what happened to our goalkeepers last season we need all the keepers that we have now,” he tells KickOff.com.

Last season Wits were left in crisis after Emille Baron, Ryan Harrison, Hoffman and Mabokgwane all went down with injuries, forcing the club to call Andre Arendse out of retirement four years after he had ended his playing career.

Meanwhile, Polokwane City appear to have frozen their interest in Wits defender Tlou Molekwane, despite the two clubs having already reached an agreement a fortnight ago.

“There was interest from Polokwane City and we had an agreement, but then it ended there because since then we never heard from them again,” says Ferreira.

Molekwane has battled for game-time since arriving from Kaizer Chiefs last season and is also further down the pecking order at right-back behind S’boniso Gumede and Katlego Pule.
For more http://www.kickoff.com