Cape Town — The Mamelodi Sundowns technical staff have been inspired by the heartening performances of players who are often overlooked because the regular choices have kept the team on track for an unprecedented quadruple.
The team has already annexed the MTN8 title, and now the Premiership, Nedbank Cup and Champions League are in their sights.
Sundowns have the biggest squad in the Premiership, and this was illustrated over the weekend when their team showed 10 changes against lower-tier outfit Summerfield Dynamos, over the weekend. It was decided to rest the regulars who had done a marvellous job, both in domestic and continental competitions
Apart from the current squad, Sundowns have a host of players on loan spells at various clubs around the country.
For now, the immediate focus is an unprecedented fifth successive Premiership title, and on Tuesday afternoon Sundowns will run out against Golden Arrows at Loftus Versfeld Stadium (start 3pm).
It is not likely that the run-on team will again show a massive 10 changes but some of the fringe players who made an impact against Dynamos could force their way into the starting XI. One of those players is Pavol Šafranko, striker-cum-leftwing, who joined Sundowns last year from Romanian cub Sportiv Sepsi OSK.
He joined the fray as a second-half substitute and made his presence count with a well-taken goal in the side's 5-0 Nedbank Cup win on Saturday. Afterwards, he remarked how difficult it was to gain selection at Sundowns.
“Sundowns is not a small team. We have very good players, and if you are out for even one day, the next four guys are waiting for their chancem and they will play well," said Šafranko.
"It’s not that easy to come back, but I will do my best and work hard.
“I feel fine, I haven’t played in a long time because I was injured so it was nice to be on the pitch and to score."
Sundowns' co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi said the depth in the squad has allowed for rotation without sacrificing the quality.
“We are in that mode now where we are comfortable to rotate without any fear that it might cause problems for us," said Mngqithi. By this time (season) now we have played more than 32 players in this competition, which is very positive for us.
"We have an understanding with the team. We understand we have quite a several serious matches to be played which I must give credit to the coaches and players themselves.
“We also believe in the team we have. We have a lot of quality. At times people say we are playing fringe players and when you look at these fringe players, they are probably national team players almost from start to finish.
“The truth of the matter is that the coaches had done very well in making sure that we give confidence to all the players. No player starts to think that maybe I’m just here because they can’t chase me away,” added Mngqithi.
"It helps us because now, with the number of games we have, we have a little bit of latitude. We can say let’s play this team against Al Merreikh, let’s play this team against Summerfield, maybe we have the same team against Golden Arrows, then we go to Angola with another team."
On Saturday, Sundowns play Petro de Luanda in Angola in a Champions League quarterfinal first-leg clash.
IOL Sport