Zesco United midfielder John Ching’andu has suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury and has been ruled out of Zambia’s squad for next month’s African Nations Championship (Chan) competition.
Zambia national team coach Wedson Nyirenda told supersport.com on Tuesday that Ching’andu had been diagnosed with a ligament injury on one of his knees and was not expected to be fit by the time the competition got underway in Morocco on 13 January.
“Ching’andu has a problem with ligaments on his knee. We released him from camp so that he could undergo further medical checkups at his club. We do not expect him to return because he did not kick the ball while in camp,” said Nyirenda.
Nyirenda added that Green Buffaloes midfielder Jack Chirwa had since been invited as Ching’andu’s replacement.
“We brought in Chirwa because of the Ching’andu issue. Chirwa has been with the national team on several occasions; we will need his experience at this level.”
Meanwhile, Nyirenda confirmed that following their Christmas break, his players return to camp in Lusaka on Tuesday, ahead of a six-day residential training camp to be held Mongu.
One of the players expected to be part of the group is Lumwana Radiants striker Mushili Chanda, who scored 10 league goals last season.
It is understood that Chanda was brought in as replacement for Lubinda Mundia who is said to have agreed to join a Tanzanian club, making him ineligible for the Chan competition.
