Mamelodi Sundowns are not taking anything lightly as they prepare for a stiff Sekhukhune United challenge in their Betway Premiership clash on Wednesday.
The Brazilians are having yet another dominant showing this season as they continue to set the benchmark, despite a couple of hiccups along the way. They have managed to nullify the looming threat carried by title rivals Orlando Pirates, and they have kept them at arms length with a healthy 12-point buffer.
Sundowns have kept the upper hand intact, and as they turn their attention to Sekhukhune United, they have shown little signs of letting loose their grip on the championship.
Lingering in their memories will be one of their recent league clashes away from home that brought about their second defeat of the season, but having emphatically dispatched TS Galaxy 4-1 this past weekend, the record has been set straight heading to the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Wednesday night.
Currently third on the log, Babina Noko have an impressive record at home and they are one of the toughest teams to travel to. They have suffered only five defeats this season, with only two of those coming from their home encounters.
Sundowns mentor Miguel Cardoso acknowledged the threat Sekhukhune will carry in their encounter but also maintained the importance of his side being fully focused on their own game and execution on the day.
“We need to focus on our jobs and win games so that in the end we have enough points to allow us to win, but there is still a lot of games left to be played,” he said.
“I have heard about the games over there, but I think we should focus on playing football. If you go and fight only so that you can lose the way you want to play, is not the reason why we train. We train in a certain way, and we should try to play the way we have prepared.
“But we respect all the opponents and we will respect Sekhukhune; we will work hard in preparing to play against them. I will also work hard to get the right mindset in approaching that game, because the next game is the most important game of our lives.”
The Brazilians walked away with a 3-0 win when the two sides met last November and a win for Cardoso and his troops will see them open a 15-point gap at the top of the log with their closest rivals, the Bucaneers, only back in action on Saturday against relegation threatened, Marumo Gallants.
“I haven’t looked at Pirates schedule; I know that they have some games behind and obviously they will have to play those games at some point,” Cardoso continued.
“If we can win our games until then maybe it will be an advantage for us, but if we also lose points it will not be an advantage, so lets wait and see because we have had that advantage before and two days later we lost against Galaxy away from home.”
