Three players and two officials have been dropped from Lesotho squad to face Benin away after testing positive for Covid-19.

In a statement, Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) confirmed that the five individuals did not travel with the team to the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.

“LeFA respects patient and doctor confidentiality and will, therefore, not disclose the names of these players. The players and officials are already in isolation, but in stable condition. The association will continue to give them all the support they need during the recovery and appeals to the members of the public and our media partners to respect the privacy of these players and their families,” the statement reads.

“As president of the Lesotho Football Association and the national executive committee, I would like to also thank the head coach, Mr Thabo Senong, all members of the technical team and the players for the commitment shown since the team started its preparations, despite the challenges brought by the pandemic.”

Benin host Lesotho at Charles de Gaulle stadium in Porto-Novo on November 14 in the Group L first-leg match, followed by the reverse fixture three days later at Setsoto Stadium in Maseru in Maseru.

Benin’s The Squirrels coach Michel Dussuyer has since predicted a tough encounter against the Crocodiles of Lesotho.

“I think the biggest danger is to think that it will be easy. Lesotho is no longer the team they were 5 or 10 years ago. I expect two difficult games because they are organized and capable of doing good things on the pitch. We have to be 100% focused on these two games if we want to achieve the maximum points possible, ” the Frenchman told CAFOnline.com