Mamelodi Sundowns pushing to have 'mileage' against Chiefs - Mngqithi

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi is hoping they would have rested properly between Thursday and Saturday before they clash against Kaizer Chiefs in Sunday’s Premier Soccer League match at Loftus Versfeld.

It is yet another outing within three days for Masandawana who were held 0-0 by in-form AmaZulu in a top-of-the-table clash on Wednesday.

The Chiefs fixture is a demanding game as they face a side that recently improved in form despite being beaten by Cape Town City on Wednesday.

“This Chiefs game is a little bit better because it gives us an extra day from the match,” said Mngqithi as per Phakaaathi.

“We probably played 12 matches in a space of less than 30 days and we are hanging in there, we are always pushing the team to make sure we are fresh, knowing that we have mileage.

“At least we played on a Wednesday and we are playing on a Sunday, so we have that one more day that we hardly had in previous matches. We are hoping that the team will be slightly better going into the Sunday match.

“The conditioning department always comes up with good strategies to always recover the team and … even against AmaZulu we fielded a team that has played so many matches with so many minutes on the legs.”

Sundowns have failed to win in three of their last five games in all competitions, a patch that includes two victories, as many defeats and a draw.

Talk of fatigue has emerged from their camp of late as they struggle for consistency while trying to balance domestic and continental responsibilities. 

Mngqithi, however, applauds his side for their resilient show and not laying bare their tired legs against AmaZulu.

“We matched them with the physical conditioning and our tiredness never really got exposed that much, maybe we started to show in the last few minutes of the game but the truth is, we do a lot of good work in terms of our recovery program because we are used to playing a lot of matches,” Mngqithi said.

After hosting Chiefs, Masandawana will be at home again three days later when they welcome another in-form side Golden Arrows as they try to play catch-up in their league games.