Yanga SC coach Cedric Kaze has confirmed striker Yacouba Songe has recovered fully and will return to training soon.

The striker from Burkina Faso injured his leg during the semi-finals of the Mapinduzi Cup against Azam FC which ended 1-1 but Yanga went on to win on post-match penalties.

The injury forced him to miss the final of the competition as Yanga managed to beat rivals Simba SC 4-3 on penalties and lift the trophy after a 0-0 draw in regular time.

Yanga coach Kaze has now confirmed the striker has recovered from the injury and will join the rest of the players when they resume training.

“Yacouba [Songne] is now fit and ready to train with the rest of the squad members,” Kaze said as quoted by Sokalabongo.

“We are now hoping he will return to training because he is one of the strikers I will bank on to win matches [in the league], we are anticipating a lot of success from the team and it is good to have all the players fit and available.”

Before picking the injury, Songne had managed to score four goals for the Jangwani giants and was the team’s king of assists, as he had managed to set up four of the 29 goals scored so far in this campaign.

Meanwhile, Yanga have confirmed winger Balama Mapinduzi will remain sidelined for the next five weeks after returning from South Africa three days ago where he underwent a successful operation to repair his ankle.

Yanga vice-chairman Fredrick Mwakalebela has confirmed the player will now remain under the doctor’s care for the next five weeks before they access his fitness again.

“We believe Mapinduzi [Balama] will recover soon but for now he has been asked to stay away for five weeks,” Mwakalebela told Sokalabongo.

“We will be able to issue another statement on his state after five weeks, for now, we want him to have a rest, relax and follow doctors’ instructions, we know he will come back stronger when he recovers fully.”

The Timu ya Wananchi managed to beef up their squad during the mini-transfer window with the signing of striker Fiston Abdoul Razak from Egyptian club ENPPI and defender Dickson Job from Mtibwa Sugar.