There has once again been mixed fortunes in the career of Amakhosi defender Siphiwe Mkhonza - just as the sun was beginning to shine on the 26-year-old defender, he is being set back by a hamstring injury.

Mkhonza started for Chiefs against Black Leopards in an ABSA Cup quaterfinal game on Saturday evening, but when Chiefs reappeared for the second half he was missing and was replaced by David Mathebula.

There was much consternation as to why Siphiwe did not return for the second half, as he had put in a sterling display in the first forty-five minutes. Chiefs physiotherapist David Milner later explained that he was withdrawn because he had sustained the injury midway through the half.

Commenting after further examining Siphiwe on Wednesday morning Milner said of the defenders injury “ in my opinion I think it would be safe to say that he has damaged his hamstring and it looks to me as though he will need four to six weeks to recover”.

Siphiwe though is not happy at the prospect of having to sit out the remainder of the season and wants to be part of the teams’ successes over the next month “ the Doctors said six weeks but I feel that I can fight this and I am confident that should we get to the ABSA Cup I will be able to stake a claim in the squad”.

In the meantime, Chiefs will be without two more players when they meet Silver Stars at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Rustenburg on Sunday afternoon, captain Cyril Nzama and Fellow defender Derrick Spencer will be out of action. Both of whom collected their third yellow cards of the season in the victory over Leopards, which means that they will have to watch their team mates take on Stars from the sidelines.