Royal AM are out for revenge against Sundowns

Manqoba Mngqithi feels as though Royal AM are out for revenge against his Mamelodi Sundowns side as the DStv champions elect travel to KwaZulu-Natal to take on Thwihli Thwahla in the league finale on Saturday afternoon.

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Sundowns beat John Maduka’s side in the Nedbank Cup semifinals a few weeks ago and that wound, Mnqgithi believes, is still bleeding.

“The match is definitely going to be tough and the fact that we beat them in the Nedbank Cup makes them even more motivated for this match. Besides that, they have changed the squad and their approach to a certain extent because they are no longer building up from the back a lot,” said Mngqithi.

“They have been playing a lot of long balls and are very direct with their two strikers and one playmaker. We are playing against a very sophisticated team and we know that they have a lot to offer. We have to play them with a very good mind because we know that our supporters will be there and we know that we need to use this as a dress rehearsal before the final and we need to give a good performance on the day,” he added.

After this “dress rehearsal”, Downs have an appointment with Marumo Gallants in the Nedbank Cup final at Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

This is the pitch that Masandawana ditched in their Caf Champions League campaign as the technical team was not happy with the condition of the surface.

“It is important for us to clear the air because it might have left a sour taste and people might think we are saying Royal Bafokeng’s pitch is not good. At that time it was rainy and when a pitch is not used regularly it was very soft and when we played Al-Hilal, we realized that there is a risk of potential injuries,” said Mngqithi.

He added: “But the quality of the pitch has always been very good. The pitch and the stadium are very good but we were just worried about playing there during the rainy season because it was soaked up. Based on what we saw at that time, players were slipping and that’s when we decided to leave. But every coach would be excited to play in a stadium like Royal Bafokeng and we are looking forward to it and we are optimistic that it won’t have the issues that it had at that time.”