Nairobi — FC Talanta defender Shela Mandela has undergone successful skull surgery and will miss the rest of the season after picking up a freak injury in the team's 2-0 win over Wazito FC at the Ruaraka Complex last week.
Mandela came off worse after a horror clash of heads with Wazito's Collins Neto, with the game stopped for almost 15 minutes.
He had gone for an aerial duel with Netto before the two clashed heads and Mandela suffered a depressed skull fracture. His teammates were the quickest responders once he fell on the ground still and his tongue had to be pulled out as he almost tragically swallowed.
Some of his teammates had their hands in their heads as medics from both teams as well as Tusker FC and experienced national team doctor Wycliffe Makanga quickly rushed to the scene, with two ambulances also going into the pitch.
"Fortunately he has undergone successful surgery and is out of danger. We will however miss him for the rest of the season. It is a huge blow to my team and I feel like I have lost my soul. Mandela was the engine of that backline and I regard him as the best defender in Kenya right now," Talanta coach ken Kenyatta told Capital Sport.
The team has been on the upward trajectory since the turn of the new month and Kenyatta says they will take a game at a time approach, to see to it that they finish in the best possible position at the end of the season.
Talanta played to a 0-0 draw with AFC Leopards in a Thursday afternoon fixture at the Nyayo National Stadium, a vast improvement from the 6-0 spanking they suffered in the first leg.
After that six-star thrashing, Kenyatta lamented that his team's morale was at an all-time low due to financial constraints, but now, the team seems to be playing with smiles once again.
Sources intimate that the club's main sponsor, the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) has cleared their salary arrears.
"I cannot talk about office matters because my job is only on the field. But you can see for yourself the players' morale is high and everything looks okay now," Kenyatta said, without letting too much out of the bag.
Talanta are currently placed 19th in the standings with 25 points, nine out of the top half.
