By MICHAEL MIYOBA
ZAMBIA national team striker Patson Daka who features for Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg has recovered from the hamstring injury which compelled him to miss out on the back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Botswana.
After a month of being sidelined at Red Bull Salzburg because of injury, Daka has been named in the squad which travelled to Russia for a UEFA Champions League encounter against Lokomotiv Moskow.
The 21-year-old former under-20 star who limped out of Redbull Salzburg’s 3-2 loss to Atletico Madrid in a UEFA Champions League Group-A encounter on October 27 is likely to play in Russia after the Austrian giants struggled to impress during his absence.
Daka’s compatriot Enock Mwepu is also expected to start the match having been given some rest over the weekend as he came from the bench in Salzburg’s 8-2 win over the weekend.
Salzburg is bottom of group A with only a point but can easily qualify to the next round with wins from their last two games.
However Salzburg’s Champions League campaign is not done and dusted yet either, with the Austrian outfit still mathematically able to secure second spot and an unlikely place in the last 16.
The Austrian Bundesliga Champions are coming from a huge win in their domestic league and the return of their star forward, Daka adds to that momentum.
The Zambian forward has already notched up 12 goals and made six assists for Salzburg so far this season.
A victory at the RZD Arena in Russia would see Salzburg move into the Europa League spot ahead of the final round of fixtures, and the Austrian outfit will certainly be encouraged by their weekend performance against St Polten, with Marsch’s men notching up eight of the 10 goals scored in that top-flight game.
PATSON DAKA IS BACK
