Sundowns looking to bounce back against Stellies

Stellenbosch FC have established themselves as one of Mamelodi Sundowns’ most dangerous opponents in the DStv Premiership.

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Stellies held the defending champions to a 1-1 draw in the first round last season and gave them a 3-0 hiding at the Tuks Stadium in the latter stages of the campaign.

They meet again on Wednesday at Loftus Versfeld, and Downs defender Lyle Lakay believes that this is an opportune time for Masandawana to redeem themselves, particularly after dropping two points in a draw with Sekhukhune United on Saturday.

“People will always look at our previous two seasons against Stellies … they have been tough opponents for us. Last season we drew the away leg and they won the second game in our home ground,” said Lakay.

“We know Stellies to be a young team with lots of energy … full of pace. They lost Ashely Du Preez to Kaizer Chiefs but even without him they are still a threat with the youngsters in the team. If you look at their recent form in the league, they drew three and won one game,” he added.

The Brazilians are three points off the early-season pace set by AmaZulu, who sit at the summit with 10 points. Downs squandered an opportunity to get maximum points against Kaitano Tembo’s Sekhukhune side as they gave up a 1-0 half time lead and failed to break down Sekhukhune throughout the entire second stanza.

“We will also try and rectify what we did wrong in the previous game so that we can correct it in this game,” added Lakay.

“We want to go out there and win the game because we are disappointed with the previous results against Sekhukhune. We have this 24-hour rule where if we win we celebrate for 24 hours and if we lose we feel disappointed for 24 hours.

“After that we move on and focus on the next game. We are over the previous result and we are focused on the next assignment. The guys are already motivated. Sundowns are a team that performs well under pressure. We are ready and we are going out there for the three points.”