Paceman Stuart Clark said he was confident he could overcome a rib injury to play in Friday's second one-day international against South Africa in Cape Town.

Australia is 1-0 down in the five-match series and is sweating on the fitness of Clark, skipper Ricky Ponting (stomach muscle strain) and all-rounder Andrew Symonds (hip flexor strain) who all missed Sunday's game at Centurion.

NSW opener Phil Jaques will arrive in South Africa on Wednesday as cover for Ponting and Symonds, with both struggling to prove their fitness for Friday.

But there may be better news on the injury front with Clark later this week.

"I had some bruising on one of my lower ribs and it's coming along pretty well," Clark said.

The 197cm seamer did some fielding training on Tuesday.

"I won't bowl until Thursday and hopefully everything will be fine then," he said.

Clark said the rib complaint really started to trouble him after last Friday's Twenty20 international in Johannesburg.

"It was playing on my mind, more than anything. I had an injection jammed right into my ribs which was a lot of fun," he said.

"But hopefully 20 seconds of pain it will go away and not be an issue any more."

Clark was upbeat about Australia's chances in the one-day series.

"We're not feeling the pressure," he said.

"It's disappointing to lose. But we know we're a good team.

"We proved that in Australia. And we want to come out and show the South African public we can do the same."

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