Arthur Zwane fears AmaZulu injury crisis if Thando Ngwenya dependency continues

Despite Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya's blistering start to the season with seven goals, Arthur Zwane insists Usuthu cannot afford to depend entirely on the Zimbabwean forward.

AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane has warned his side that their growing reliance on Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya for goals could prove costly if the Zimbabwean striker is sidelined again.

Ngwenya has been central to Usuthu’s encouraging start to the season, scoring five goals in four Betway Premiership matches and adding two more in the MTN8.

His seven goals across all competitions have put him firmly among the leading scorers in the early Golden Boot race.

However, Zwane knows how quickly AmaZulu’s fortunes can change if their leading marksman is unavailable.

The 24-year-old missed around two-and-a-half months of last season with injury, a spell Zwane believes significantly disrupted the team’s campaign.

His importance was evident again on Wednesday when he scored both AmaZulu goals in their 5-2 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld.

While Ngwenya’s form has been a major positive, Zwane wants the rest of his attacking players to shoulder more responsibility.

“It’s good to see him scoring goals. The only concern is that it can’t be only him who scores for us. Others also need to take responsibility. You can’t rely on him, because if he gets injured again, then we’re going to have a problem,” said Zwane.

The warning was particularly pertinent after Ngwenya appeared to feel the effects of the demanding schedule against Sundowns.

“We’re just hoping that Thando will be available for selection all the time. You must have seen that towards the end of the game [against Sundowns], he started cramping, and that was a warning sign for us,” Zwane added.

The AmaZulu coach admitted he faces a difficult balancing act when deciding whether to protect his star striker, particularly while other forwards are still working their way back to full fitness.

“Sometimes you want to take him out, but you look at who can give you goals. We don’t have another prolific striker like him at the moment. We do have others, but they’re still coming back because they missed pre-season.”

AmaZulu had made a strong start before their heavy defeat to Sundowns, winning twice, drawing once and losing once in their opening four league matches.