Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has backed defender Khulumani Ndamane, who has committed uncharacteristic mistakes recently.
Ndamane caused a penalty in the dying minutes of the 1-1 draw against Stellenbosch FC that cost Sundowns two valuable home points in the race for the championship last month.
He was at fault again during the exciting 7-4 win over Siwelele FC, with his mistake leading to Gamphani Lungu’s first goal to make it 3-1 after Sundowns had a good start to the game.
Ndamane is going to be needed by Sundowns during their last league match of the season against TS Galaxy at Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday and in the two-legged Champions League final against AS FAR.
He becomes important because Cardoso has lost Keanu Cupido to a collarbone injury, while Grant Kekana is suspended for the first leg against AS FAR at Loftus on Sunday.
With one eye on the Champions League final, Cardoso is likely to partner Ndamane and Kegan Johannes against TS Galaxy because they have not played much together this season.
Malibongwe Khoza has been playing DDC football over the past weeks and this means Cardoso is likely to go with the central defensive partnership of Ndamane and Johannes.
Those points are not only important to keep us in the fight for the Championship, but put ourselves in a space for one of the best campaigns that the club has had.
— Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso
Asked about Ndamane’s recent underwhelming performances, Cardoso defended his player by saying he is suffering from fatigue.
“It is very clear that he is tired. He is not reactive and not agile and that is because he is tired and that’s true,” said Cardoso.
“He is the only left-footed centreback that we have. We decided to play him in this match against Siwelele FC. Fatigue is not only physical, it’s also mental, and because of this the capacity to make tactical and technical decisions sometimes is delayed a little bit.
“He missed the pass that led to the first goal. He was late with the decision and that is probably from the fatigue he has accumulated. It is something I have to take into consideration.
“As you may imagine, we just lost Cupido and Mothobi Mvala is still not able to play. We have Johannes, who is a player that we trust and I wanted to give him game time against Siwelele FC.
“I had all the intentions to play him [Johannes] but I saw that Aubrey [Modiba] was struggling and keeping him in the match will expose the left side. I was afraid to lose Aubrey and that is why I opted to put Divine.”
Sundowns return to action on Tuesday and Cardoso said they have no choice but to keep on going.
“This was the second match in less than 72 hours and this one against TS Galaxy on Tuesday will be the third one. And as you might understand, there is also the Champions League final against AS FAR that will be played on the fifth day after the sequence of three matches in 72 hours.
“That is obviously a lot of concern on my part as you can imagine, but we will try to manage the situation and we cannot give up winning our matches. We will continue to look for points until the last minute of that TS Galaxy match.
“Those points are not only important to keep us in the fight for the Championship, but put ourselves in a space for one of the best campaigns that the club has had.”
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