Sundowns eye turnaround after last week derby loss

You might expect Mamelodi Sundowns to be over their 2-1 loss to SuperSport United last Friday, given their 24-hour cooling off rule.

However, co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi says the pain of losing a Tshwane derby still runs deep.

“We are still feeling the pain, we are not a team that is accustomed to losing a match like that but we have to move on,” said Manqoba Mngqithi.

The defending league champions are in Eastern Cape to take on Daine Klate’s Chippa United side on Wednesday and Mngqithi is expecting a tough match against the Chilli Boys.

“It is encouraging how Daine has done in that team, they have scored some critical goals from set-pieces. Daine has structured that team very well, they are offensive and we are expecting a tough match and we know very well that we are expected to win this match,” said Mngqithi.

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The Masandawana co-head coach added that despite their inconsistency so far this season, the players are a lot more motivated to improve as they look to keep up with the pacesetters Royal AM.

“We have got a committed bunch of players and the competition amongst our players makes them not to take any opportunity for granted because they know that there is someone who is looking to get a chance if you make a mistake. Competition alone increases the level of motivation from our players,” said Mngqithi.

“There are matches where we get surprises at times, like the game against TS Galaxy where most of our players did not show the performance that we expected and it was a very inconsistent performance and that is something very rare with our group of players because they know that they have the responsibility to improve and better the previous performance,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sundowns are understood to be working around the clock to get Peter Shalulile to be registered as a local player as the Namibian meets Home Affairs criteria of working for five years in South Africa in order to qualify for citizenship.

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Sundowns are looking to register Moroccan defender Abdelmounaim Boutouil. However, Mngqithi applauds the so-called smaller teams who are making ends meet without too much activity in the transfer market.

“It is not always about the amount of money that you splash to build a team. There are teams that are doing good work and will become a big force by focusing on what will work for them. If you can improve your coaching and scouting, you can build a very strong team.

“Look at Stellenbosch, they have not signed big name players but those players will be wanted by all the big clubs because they are good. They have promoted so many youngsters and they have already lost some of their top players who were unknown.”