New signing and four Mamelodi Sundowns players ruled out of Esperance de Tunis showdown in Caf Champions League - 'They will play full pitch with some players with the Diski team'

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has revealed that five players will not feature against Esperance in the Caf Champions League match on Tuesday.

Themba Zwane, Mothobi Mvala, Lebo Mothiba, Rivaldo Coetzee, and Siyabonga Mabena are the players Cardoso will not have when they host the Tunisian heavyweights.

According to the Portuguese tactician, Zwane is almost fit, but he is not yet at the level that he could face Esperance. However, he and Mvala are expected to engage in a friendly match in Tunisia.

“Regarding the players that are still out of the group, Themba is almost there. But he’s still not in a condition to participate in this match and not even in the second one,” Cardoso explained as per FARPost.

“But also Mothobi [Mvala] and [Lebo] Mothiba. Indeed, we feel that they are quite close. We feel that they are quite close, for you to be clear. We are now in the moment where they have already trained 100% with the group, with the exception of Mothiba, Rivaldo [Coetzee], and young [Siyabonga] Mabena," he added.

“During this period of time that we’re going to play Esperance, there are two competition moments that they will be submitted to.

"Tomorrow [Tuesday], they (Zwane and Mvala) will make in the morning a situation in full pitch with some players from the [DStv] Diski [Challenge] team. And then when we fly to Tunisia, there will be a friendly match where they are going to play against a team, and we will invite them to come to play with us," Cardoso concluded.

As Sundowns prepare to welcome the Tunisian side, their main priority should be to take full advantage of home support and get a win.

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) giants are hoping to get revenge on Esperance, who eliminated them last season, and surprisingly, it is Cardoso who was in charge of the Downs' rivals then.

The Tunisian outfit eliminated Sundowns in the semi-finals by picking a 2-0 aggregate win.

As the Portuguese tactician prepares to face his former side, his main headache is the missing players who are not available because of injuries.

The Brazilians will welcome Esperance at Loftus Versfeld, with the match kicking off at 15:00.

In the semi-final last year at home, Sundowns were beaten 1-0 with Raed Bouchniba scoring the only goal of the game. This is what the PSL giants must avoid in order to boost their chances of progressing further in the competition this time around.

The second round has been scheduled to take place on April 8.