Ajax Cape Town coach Muhsin Ertugral is worried as he faces a tough two match Absa Premiership programme this week with a depleted squad.

The 'Urban Warriors' meet Platinum Stars at the Moruleng Stadium on Wednesday night (kick-off 7.30pm) and play Kaizer Chiefs at Newlands on Sunday.

The reason for the Turkish born coach's concern ahead of the 'Urban Warriors' crunch showdown against Stars is a mounting injury and suspension list added to the fact that he has five players on duty in Egypt with the South African under-20 squad playing at the World Youth Championships.

Ertugral will be minus two key midfielders Franklin Cale and Nhlanhla Shabalala who will miss the Stars clash through suspension after picking up their third yellow card in helping the 'Urban Warriors' win 2-1 away over Mamelodi Sundowns at the weekend.

Said Ertugral: "I will have to shuffle the squad around. We are going to miss both Cale and Shabalala who are key players for me. The problem is compounded by having the five youngsters in Egypt. I am hoping that I have no serious injury worries after our win over Sundowns to deal with."

Ertugral is wary of Stars who are struggling to find their feet this season. Stars were beaten 1-0 last Wednesday by leaders Orlando Pirates and then suffered a 2-0 loss in Cape Town to Santos at the weekend.

But Ertugral is not reading too much into Stars or his club's early form.

"I rate Stars coach Steve Komphela highly. Just look what he achieved with Free State Stars last season. Sure Platinum Stars are battling at the moment but Komphela and his side are too good not to come right and I believe they will sooner, rather than later. I have studied DVDs of Stars and they are a far better side than their position in the league at present suggests."

Stars are in 14th spot in the 16-team league and have six points from eight matches while Ajax are sixth with 12 points.

"We dropped four points at home when we drew with both Wits and Maritzburg."

Ertugral is hoping that his two goal scorers against Sundowns, Diyo Sibisi and Sifiso Vilakazi, come to the party against ailing Stars. Botswana international Dipsy Selolwane is also expected to play a key role for Ajax.

Ertugral is looking forward to Sunday's showdown against his former club Chiefs but said he was taking it one game at a time. "I will start thinking about Chiefs after playing Stars."

Ertugral, who left Chiefs at the end of last season, upset the form book earlier last month when he guided Ajax into the MTN8 final after defeating 'Amakhosi' in a dramatic two legged semifinal.