Is Mngqithi losing Mamelodi Sundowns dressing room? After Khuliso Mudau, Manqoba 'has issues with one or two players' following Maniema Union draw

Defending Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns hosted Maniema Union in the Caf Champions League outing staged at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Tuesday.

Masandwana came into the Group B encounter as favourites but failed to capitalise on the home-ground advantage to share the spoils with the Congolese outfit.

Coach Papy Kimoto concedes his team came into the match as underdogs and it helped them to play without pressure and get a 'satisfying' result.

“I’m satisfied with the performance of the team, the players suffered together, played together, we have the opportunity now, playing two games at home, if we win the two games, we might be first in the group,” the tactician said after the game.

“We have nothing to lose, we playing without pressure and today, our players gave it all. We are a team, a so-called small team, playing without pressure."

North African heavyweights Raja Casablanca and AS FAR Rabat are the other two teams in the pool, but Kimoto is convinced Sundowns will finish at the helm.

“Sundowns are high-level, a good team, and they still have the chance to top the group, I don’t believe the two other teams [Raja and AS FAR] will get away with one point at Loftus, but at some point we made them doubt themselves, that we could have scored," the Maniema coach added.

“We’re happy with one point but Sundowns are still favourites to top the group, Sundowns are favourites.”

In the 2-1 Carling Knockout final loss, Manqoba Mngqithi mentioned Khuliso Mudau as one of the reasons why the team fell against Magesi FC. He even dropped him on Tuesday night.

The tough-speaking tactician has now revealed he was not impressed with two players on Tuesday night.

"I think I would have issues with one or two players that I felt did not give enough – enough effort more than anything else," the former AmaZulu coach said.

“I think the rest of the players really, really pushed very hard. I was really happy with our last line, they performed very well and our midfield. I was very impressed with Erwin [Saavedra], he’s going to help us a lot.

"There were a lot of very good players. The players were maybe I had an issue with, I had question marks on the level of effort because that’s where I think most of the mistakes would emanate from.  The rest of the squad played very well. Had we taken our chances, we would not be talking of anything in this match, to be honest," Mngqithi concluded.

From his recent pressers, it is obvious Mngqithi is feeling the pressure at Sundowns and is taking it to players.

Ahead of the game against Sekhukhune United this weekend, Mngqithi has to ensure he mends the relationship to avoid another upset.