Durban — Mamelodi Sundowns head hoach Rhulani Mokwena expects his side’s squad depth to play a vital role as the CAF Champions League and Nedbank Cup approach.
The Brazilians participated in their seventh match in 24 days when they brushed aside TS Galaxy at the Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday.
Mokwena and his technical team were forced into making numerous alterations to the starting XI after they exerted themselves heavily against Kaizer Chiefs at the weekend.
However, the defending champions produced yet another mesmerising and dominant performance nonetheless and Mokwena believes their ability to rotate players at will and have specific training details affords them a chance at keeping their standards high.
“It’s the only possible solution to a hectic schedule - freshness and rotation to make everybody feel like a part of the process,” he said.
“We know about the schedule, we actually knew about it before the mini-season break and during that time we worked hard in training every player and ensuring that every single player is ready.
“The situation we find ourselves in comes with being a part of a big club, we always have to be ready to play every three days and our depth allows us to confidently give opportunities to other players with faith and trust.”
The Chloorkop-based club are the defending champions of both the Nedbank Cup and DStv Premiership and Mokwena’s men are desperate to add a second CAF Champions League medal to their collection.
Sundowns will play Sekhukhune United and Orlando Pirates in the league before facing Richard’s Bay FC in the Cup and then kick-off their Champions League group stage campaign at home against Al-Hilal.
Their upcoming four fixtures will take place in a space of 13 days.
When quizzed about the performances of Sipho Mbule and Siphelele Mkhulise (Man of the Match against Galaxy), who were a part of eight changes made on the night, Mokwena refused to offer individual praise.
“I’m not one to speak about individual football players and I’m not one to say to the group that this player and this player (played well),” he explained.
“We had a very good team performance today and of course with that comes numerous standout performances individually and that’s what we had on the pitch today.”
The Brazilians have shown their quality, experience and big match temperament this season but Mokwena will hope they raise their goal conversion level in their upcoming tests.
IOL Sport