As if losing to Mamelodi Sundowns wasn’t bad enough for Kaizer Chiefs fans, they now have to deal with the fact that Itumeleng Khune won’t play for their beloved team again this season.

Khune was missed by the Amakhosi at the FNB Stadium on Saturday as his replacement Virgil Vries was to blame for the second-half winner scored by Lebohang Maboe.

Vries produced a howler in the 81st minute as he totally misjudged a long ball from Lyle Lakay as he came towards the edge of his box, with the ball bouncing over his left hand.

Maboe tapped it in, with the Namibian goalkeeper sitting on the ground in disbelief, to put Sundowns 2-1 up, a lead they held on to in order to remain unbeaten in the Premiership.

Anthony Laffor had opened the scoring for Masandawana in the third minute, with Willard Katsande equalising for Chiefs 11 minutes later.

Khune sat in the stands wearing a brace on his left arm due to a shoulder injury. He saw a specialist this week, and coach Ernst Middendorp announced after the match that the Bafana star will be out for the rest of the season.

“I’ll bounce back stronger,” Khune tweeted afterwards.

His absence will affect the national team’s hopes of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations as well, with Bafana facing Libya in the group decider in March.

Vries and Bruce Bvuma are the current first-team goalkeepers, but with the January transfer window open, it will be interesting to see whether Middendorp goes to the market for a new shot-stopper.