Desiree Ellis to ring the changes for final match against Jamaica

Desiree Ellis to ring the changes for final match against Jamaica

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says she will ring the changes in the international friendly against Jamaica on Tuesday morning (02h30 SA Time) in Montego Bay, in an effort to test more players.

South Africa lost 3-0 in the first encounter on Saturday, and the two nations meet in the second and final match.

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The African Champions are using the games to prepare for the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in July next year.

Following games against Senegal, Denmark and England, Ellis has said this could be the last chance for players to impress her ahead of the Morocco tournament.

''We said we wanted to give everyone a chance and that is the process when you are coming. Unfortunately we were playing a tough opponent like Jamaica but that is the process where you want to give opportunities to players to test them at this point. It is important that we come out of this game having looked at as many players as we can, to be able  to forward into the new year and say do we need to look at more players, because there are many players but we can't select everyone at the same time,'' said Ellis.

Ellis adds that they have brought in an almost new team with nine different players from the England and Denmark squad, but they have to trust the process as the bigger picture is the WAFCON.

''So this is the group we decided to select. And if you look at the past game, we had seven changes in our starting line up that played against England, that says a lot about the opportunities that have been given. We have got nine new players that have come on this trip, it is all about the process and all about where we want to be, come WAFCON,'' added Ellis.

Banyana Banyana are desperate for a win following three defeats in a row against Denmark and England last month and recently against Jamaica. But Ellis says it is still important to give youngsters a chance.

''The results are not forthcoming at the moment. You go into a game and you want to win that game, but you also want to see positive performances, and I thought that in one of the key areas -  was in the build up phase, we were comfortable and obviously we need to find other solutions. Further up the field we have a lot of work to do, especially in our finishing department because we create chances. But the young players that have come in, we sit regularly and check, it is their opportunity to showcase their talent,'' she expressed.

Ellis says they have seen the error of their ways from the first match against the Reggae Girlz and have been working on rectifying those.