Sono - staying upbeat. (Allsport)

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South Africa coach Jono Somo has played down the importance of the last-minute withdrawal of injured defender Matthew Booth.

Booth was replaced in the 23-man squad by Jacob Lekgetho from Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow.

Somo, though, believes Booth's loss should not impact too much on South Africa's prospects of progressing in Group B, where they will come up against Paraguay, Slovenia and Spain.

"Jacob is not new to the team and he should have no problem settling in," said Somo.

"He was with us in camp and he has played for Bafana before so I don't foresee any major problems."

Booth injured his knee before South Africa's friendly against Madagascar in Durban a week ago, but the towering defender played in that 1-0 win and seemed fine afterwards.

When the squad arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday Booth's knee was swollen, but the medical team assumed it was due to the long flight.

And when he took part in three training sessions without ill effect, it was thought he had recovered fully.

But on Tuesday the knee swelled up again and Booth was left out of the team that beat Scotland 2-0 in the Reunification Cup.

The medical team examined Booth and reported that there was "no medical guarantee he would withstand the rigours of playing at the World Cup", and duly declared him unfit.