Musona out for 2 weeks

Former Zimbabwe captain Knowledge Musona is facing a race against time to regain fitness ahead of the Warriors' opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after his club confirmed that he is nursing a hamstring injury.

The 36-year-old Scottland forward, who is among six players from the Mabvuku-based club named in new Warriors coach Ramon Catala's provisional squad, is expected to be sidelined for at least two weeks.

Scottland coach Norman Mapeza confirmed that Musona picked up the injury during the club's league match against FC Platinum last Wednesday.

"He picked up a slight hamstring injury against FC Platinum on Wednesday," Mapeza said.

"So, the scan reveals that he's going to be out for the next two weeks. That's the situation with Knowledge."

The setback has already ruled Musona out of Scottland's CAF Champions League preliminary-round return leg against Eswatini champions Nsingizini Hotspurs this weekend.

His injury has also raised concerns over his availability for Zimbabwe's opening Group E qualifiers for the 2027 AFCON finals.

The Warriors will begin their campaign against Sierra Leone on September 24 in Casablanca, Morocco, with the West African side hosting the match there because of the unavailability of a CAF-approved stadium in Sierra Leone.

Zimbabwe will then host the Democratic Republic of Congo at the National Sports Stadium in Harare four days later.

Musona is the most experienced player in Catala's provisional squad and his fitness is likely to be closely monitored by the national team technical department.

The veteran forward has made three AFCON appearances for Zimbabwe and last represented the Warriors at the 2025 tournament in Morocco, where he scored in the 1-1 draw against Angola.

He subsequently missed the decisive group match against South Africa through injury and was also unavailable for the Four-Nations Unity Cup tournament in England in May.

Musona was in the stands on Sunday as Scottland made their CAF Champions League debut with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Nsingizini Hotspurs at the National Sports Stadium.

His absence had sparked speculation that he could have been dropped for disciplinary reasons following an incident four days earlier when he walked straight to the dressing room after being substituted during Scottland's 0-0 draw against FC Platinum at Rufaro Stadium.

Mapeza, however, dismissed the speculation, saying Musona's absence was solely due to injury.

The coach also explained Musona's reaction to being substituted against FC Platinum.

"When we took him out, I think he couldn't take that. Look, we were taking him out when it was still 0-0. He thought maybe he could have given us more in terms of maybe getting results on that day. Then again, he was thinking about this (Sunday) game," Mapeza said.

Musona will also miss the return fixture in Eswatini, dealing another setback to Scottland's continental campaign.

Five other Scottland players were included in Catala's provisional Warriors squad - goalkeeper Nelson Chadya, defenders Kelvin Moyo, Peter Muduhwa and Emmanuel Jalai, and midfielder Abubakar Moffat.

With Scottland competing on several fronts, Mapeza said managing player workloads would be crucial.

The club remains involved in the Chibuku Super Cup, where they face Hardrock in the quarter-finals after returning from Eswatini. They are also pursuing honours in the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup while defending their league title.

"Maybe if we have scored maybe three, four, five goals, those who played (on Sunday) they were not going to play (the return leg)," Mapeza said.

"In these games, we need to get something out of it. Of course, I can make some changes, but I need to be cautious as well when I do those changes.

"We are still in those tournaments. So, when we come back from Eswatini, again, I always say we will plan and see who is going to play against Hardrock because we don't have time.

"Right now (yesterday) we have to go to South Africa. So, there is no time to rest," he said.