South Africa skipper Dean Furman is amongst a handful of players who are unavailable for Bafana Bafana ahead of friendly matches against Swaziland and Nigeria.

The national team will face Swaziland on Wednesday and then the Super Eagles of Nigeria on Sunday.

Other players who will join Furman on the sidelines, forced to watch the encounters on television include Anele Ngcongca, May Mahlangu and Erick Mathoho, though the Kaizer Chief defender will only miss the Swaziland match through a personal issue, and return to the side for the Nigeria clash.

Mahlangu’s fractured foot injury has ruled him out of these matches, while Ngcongca is carrying an achilles tendon problem that he needs to recover from.

The case regarding Furman is a club issue rather than an injury, as Doncaster Rovers have requested that the South African Football Association (SAFA) excuse the midfielder during this period, as it includes important league matches during a crucial part of the season.

Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba has agreed, and explained his position concerning Furman.

“We have called up to 30 players and have covered every position. So, we will not replace any of these who are unable to come to camp,” Mashaba said.

“I think it is also a blessing in disguise in that we will be able to test out the players we have called up. For instance, Dean has been playing with Andile in the middle of the park, so it would be great to see who else could fill in that role. To be frank we would have loved to have all players, but seeing it is not possible we have to move on,” he added.

“Also on the question of Dean, we have accepted the request because we want to build relations with these clubs. It is important that when you have a request like this we should consider it favourably because in future we will be the ones needing to make a request to these clubs,” Mashaba said on the SAFA official site.

A SAFA statement concerning Mathoho read: “The South Africans will be without defender Erick Mathoho who has been withdrawn from the match due to family commitments. Mathoho will, however, join Bafana Bafana on Thursday, 26 March in Nelspruit ahead of the second international friendly match which will be against Nigeria.”

On Tuesday morning the Bafana squad welcomed the arrival of Lebohang Phiri, Kamohela Mokotjo and Thulani Serero.