Sundowns coach Pitso upset about Mabunda’s injury

Mamelodi Sundowns almost drew with Maritzburg United but thanks to Lyle Lakay who came off the bench to score the winner as Masandawana won 2-1 in the end.

The defending Absa Premiership champions remain unbeaten but Mosimane is aware that the defeats will come and he would rather lose games than play draws.

“You play two games and draw twice that is two points. I’d rather lose one match and win one match and get three points. You can play 30 games, draw all of them and get 30 points… well done, but you will be relegated,” said Mosimane.

The Sundowns mentor’s concern is the injury blow to Tiyani Mabunda, who had his ankle injured when Denis Onyango fell on him.

“I am a little bit upset that he is out because you can always rely on him. He doesn’t moan about not playing. He doesn’t say why am I playing Rivaldo Coetzee, Sammy Seabi and Andile Jali ahead of him. If I say ‘Shuga, come and play’, he plays and he plays his heart out and that is what I like about the boy.”

Meanwhile, Eric Tinkler’s side remain winless after five games and they find themselves languishing in the in the relegation zone. Tinkler says all he has to do is embrace his players and motivate them to do better.

“We just have to put our arms around them and keep pushing them. Gone are the days of my time when we used to swear and shout, I don’t think the footballers of today can handle that so we are going to have to put our arms around them and keep pushing them because they are capable of producing a lot more,” said Tinkler.

“I think we have a much better squad than what we had last season. I know what I see in training, I know the quality that we have and it is now a case of producing it on the field. The harsh reality is that we are judged on points. Nobody cares about the fact that we create a lot of chances yet we lost the game. What it means is that we did not collect points but I have to look at those things because they are important to win games.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.