Notoane names former Broos favourite Brooks for under-23 Afcon qualifiers

South Africa's under-23 coach David Notoane has named former Bafana Bafana favourite Ethan Brooks in his squad to face Togo.  

Brooks became a Hugo Broos favourite after making his Bafana debut last year, however the 21-year-old, who was last called up to the squad for the 5-0 humbling by France, will have to settle for the under-23 squad having not been called up to the latest Bafana squad.  

Despite South Africa having a bye while Togo beat Mauritania 2-1 in the previous round, Notoane believes the players selected in the squad are capable of securing a result against Togo in a Morocco 2023 Afcon second round qualifier. 

"Selecting this squad has been very challenging because we had a bye when Togo faced Mauritania and we did not have any official practice matches during the previous FIFA window," said Notoane.  

"Now with other teams having played already, they have a sense of where their squads are." 

Notoane says he faced challenges in selecting the squad as the players have full schedules. However, he says he picked a squad he believes can win the first leg while seeing out the second. 

"We had to put together a team that will be able to give us an advantage in the first leg, secure a victory first, try not to concede and come away with a clean sheet in Togo, which will be very difficult in a hostile environment and with altitude also a very important factor to consider. 

"With [PSL] teams rendering certain players unavailable due to their hectic programmes, and looking at the fact that some players will be required to honour their club commitments up until Wednesday, we had to find a very good balance in making sure we have a squad that is strong enough to compete, and fresh enough to be able to deal with the conditions