Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso hits out at the 'misinformation' surrounding Monnapule Saleng's readiness to play for his new club

Mamelodi Sundowns signed Monnapule Saleng from Orlando Pirates, with the Brazilians announcing his arrival on January 10.

He arrived at Chloorkop while nursing a thigh injury picked up during his time at Orbit College where he was on loan from the Buccaneers.

At the time he joined Sundowns, he said he would be out for eight to 12 weeks, while his coach, Miguel Cardoso, also corroborated the time his player was expected to be out. 

But now, with various wild rumours swirling around Saleng's ongoing absence, Cardoso raised the issue in the aftermath of Sundowns beating AmaZulu to go top of the Betway Premiership table. 

“Thank you very much for the question because it gives me the opportunity also to comment a little bit on the situation of the injured players because I see that there are a lot of comments,” Cardoso said in response to a question on the injury status of the 27-year-old..

“I’m obviously informed by the people like [our media officer], and also by my assistants regarding what people speak about players and this and that. There’s a lot of misinformation regarding the players that are injured or not injured.

“It’s very important that on the match day that people in general take a look at the report that is press-released by our media officer, so that they understand the players that can be lined up or not because then there’s a lot of arguments and discussions on players that are injured and cannot even play. 

“There’s no need for those kinds of bad thoughts, let’s say. So, Saleng is still injured. It’s a situation that is obviously progressing. Let’s see when he can help the team," he concluded.

When asked about Saleng's recovery and possible debut timeline in early February, Cardoso was seemingly quite positive on the prognosis.

“Saleng has recovered very positively,” said Cardoso as per iDiski Times.   

“If you remember when I spoke about Saleng, I told that in a very negative approach that probably we might have him out for two months.   

“I also wanted to take out some pressure from his recovery and from himself. I believe it’s not gonna be that time for him to come back to training.    

“Then we need to get to understand how he feels, if he’s clear, fitness-wise and capable of helping the team," the Portuguese coach said.    

“We have to make him understand a few details we want from him and understand the moment where he’ll be capable of performing.”

Apart from their exit from the Nedbank Cup at the hands of TS Galaxy, Sundowns have been coping pretty well with Saleng's absence. They secured their passage into the knockout rounds of the CAF Champions League, beat title rivals Orlando Pirates 2-1 last week, and are now top of the league courtesy of a 0-1 mid-week away win over high-flying AmaZulu.

With their CCL knockout rounds approaching in March there are concerns over the tight fixture schedule that will create over the last months of the season.

Cardoso will need a deep squad and a fit again Saleng to navigate the club through those challenging conditions if they are to retain their league title for the nineth time in a row, and reach the continental final where they can finally earn that second star.