Doctor says Pirates players look good after testing

Cape Town - Orlando Pirates Doctor Lervasen Pillay says the players look in good condition after their medical testing was completed at the start of pre-season training.

Pirates are about to embark on preparations for the 2019/20 campaign as they look to be competitive on all fronts both domestically and on the African continent in the CAF Champions League.

With that said, Dr Pillay has confirmed that a bright start has been made with players returning to camp in excellent condition following their holiday break.

He said: "The pre-season medical assessment entails observing and examining the players from a medical perspective.

"[This includes] checking their hearts out, and all their systems, like the lungs, eyes and ears and also their musculoskeletal system, which is the most important because of their involvement in football.

"But our focus is more on picking up and identifying problems and having a plan of action in terms of improvement these [defects] during this pre-season.

"So far, nothing seems to be very concerning, and in fact the guys look much more prepared than the last season or two ago, when we did pre-season medicals.

"Some of the guys have lost a little bit of fitness, there's a little bit of strength that has been lost as well, and commonly we'll start picking up issues like muscle weaknesses in certain areas.

"This is because they haven't been doing as much as they normally do. Though we normally give them an off-season program, but which is minimal cardio and minimal weight training."