Orlando Pirates head coach Absdeslam Ouadou has explained why Bafana Bafana international Evidence Makgopa missed the club’s Betway Premeirship clash against Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday.

Makgopa was omitted from Pirates’ 22-man squad that suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat against Sundowns at FNB Stadium in a highly anticipated top-of-the-table clash.

The Bafana Bafana international striker watched the match from the stands as  Yanela Mbuthuma was given the nod to lead the Buccaneers’ attack against the Tshwane giants in a crucial league encounter.

In the current 2025/26  season Makgopa and Mbuthuma have been the Sea Robbers’ trusted soldiers to share the goal-scoring burden.

The Buccaneers already shipped out the club’s second all time goal scorer Tshegofatso Mabasa, to Stellenbosch on-loan for the remainder of the season, despite being eight goals shy of equalling Benedict “Tso” Vilakazi’s Club’s all-time goal-scoring record.

Makgopa has made 21 appearances for the Buccaneers in all competitions, scoring four goals and providing three assists, having established himself as a big-game player under former Bucs coach Jose Riveiro.

 Makgopa was a noticeable absentee on Wednesday against Sundowns. His coach Absdeslam Ouaddou, has clarified why the Bafana Bafana international was not part of the disappointing defeat to Masandawana.

“First of all, I have to specify that Makgopa could not be In the team yesterday [Wednesday] because he was injured you know, so he could not be in the team,” Ouddou told reporters on the Nedbank Cup last 16 press conference in Sandton.

“But of course, in the [the striking department] is an area of concern for me, if you followed my previous press conference in the last few months.” He added

“I think we can see that it’s an area that we need to be efficient because it’s the reality of football, when we want to be more ambitious, we need to be clinical.

“Of course we keep on working, we don’t stop working, but you have to understand that we have a young team, young strikers, and we need to be patient with them.”