Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter is hesitant to field captain Thulani Hlatshwayo in their must-win Fifa World Cup qualifier against Senegal on Friday.

The 27-year-old has been struggling with a toe injury he sustained while on domestic duty with Bidvest Wits during their Telkom Knockout Cup quarter-final victory over Baroka on 4 November.

Hlatshwayo has already missed Bafana’s previous World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso, and Baxter says he remains uncertain whether or not to play the Wits captain, although he has a number of options in defence.

“‘Tyson’ looks like he is going to struggle for this one, and we are not going to take any chances. I think we need to be sure that we won’t have a player that will come off after five minutes. We are doubtful at this point he will take part,” Baxter told KickOff.com.

“I don’t want to rule him out, but he is doubtful. I could gamble with him, but it would be a bit of a gamble. I would say it’s very unlikely.”

Bafana Bafana will welcome Senegal to the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday when the two nations go head-to-head in the Fifa Word Cup qualifier, with kick-off set for 19:00.

-This story originally appeared on FourFourTwo.co.za