Young Africans (Yanga SC) head coach Miguel Gamondi has asserted his desire to raise the level of fitness by awarding minutes to all players in an international friendly against TS Galaxy at Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa on Thursday.

The defending Mainland Premier League champions will be playing their second international friendly after facing Bundesliga side FC Augsburg in the Mpumalanga Premier’s International Cup opener, where Young Africans went down 2-1 to Jess Thorup’s side.

“We have had limited time to prepare, but we will have a better idea of things after our next game on Wednesday. I plan to give every player at least 45 minutes to build their fitness and match sharpness, which are crucial in pre-season,” said Gamondi as quoted by the Guardian.

“We are making steady progress, and I’m pleased with the players’ development in terms of physicality, technique, and tactical awareness.”

Gamondi still has a lot of work to do to ensure that the new players are in competitive condition, mentioning Prince Dube and Jean Baleke, who still need time to develop their competitive level in terms of fitness. “We have a lot of work ahead to get the new signings match-ready. Players like Prince Dube and Jean Baleke, in particular, need more time to reach the required fitness level.

“I believe they have met Young Africans’ standards. Dube hasn’t played in six months, so he is lacking fitness. Baleke is also quite unfit and needs to find his rhythm. Other players look better physically, but they still need to adapt to our playing style and tactics,” said Gamondi.

In their first friendly match, new signings Aziz Andabwile, Duke Abuya, Clatous Chama, Dube, and Chadrak Boka all started against Augsburg, with Baleke scoring the consolation goal.