ORLANDO Pirates have dropped Oupa Manyisa, not for any reasons of form but
because he needs rest.

Coach Roger de Sa confirmed the Bafana Bafana midfielder would not be flying to the Comoros Islands today with the rest of the team for Saturday’s African Champions League first round, second leg tie against Djabal in Moroni because he needed a break.

But the Buccaneers will take what De Sa described as a “pretty solid” squad because they do not want to take any chances even though they have an overwhelming five-goal lead and are playing against a part-time outfit.

Pirates, who have conceded seven goals in their past two games, had selected their team for the trip, even before the 3-2 loss to Moroka Swallows on Tuesday.

“We did that for reasons to do with the passports and tickets,” explained De Sa, though Pirates are scheduled to charter their own plane to the islands today, a four-hour direct flight that sees them cut out an extra day of unnecessary travel if they were to go by commercial airlines.

“We are taking the players we think have to go,” De Sa said, failing to give a clear picture of whether the fringe players might get a run.

“Manyisa is not going. He is tired. You can see he needs a rest. But we are going with a pretty solid team,” the coach said.

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