Durban — Even though Mamelodi Sundowns are on course for a sixth consecutive Premiership title, defender Thapelo Morena believes his team will have their work cut out as they prepare to host Marumo Gallants at Loftus on Wednesday.
What Morena believes will make Marumo Gallants especially hard to play against is the fact that they are once again led by Dan Malesela. Malesela controversially left the club at the end of last season after having led it to a runners-up finish in the Nedbank Cup.
He has since returned and replaced Romain Folz.
“It will be challenging because coach Dan Malesela went back there and will implement his style of football. It will be very challenging. We know that we have to lift up our socks and put our minds to the game and take the game as it is. When they come to us, we will have to fight back and deliver on what we have to,” said Morena.
Sundowns head into the game on the back of a six-game unbeaten run and will be expected to extend that against Marumo Gallants who are languishing in second last position on the league standings. Marumo Gallants are only above bottom club Swallows FC on goal difference.
However, if one thing is certain, Malesela’s team will be full of confidence even though their log position doesn’t suggest it. They have won their last three games in all competitions which included two Caf Confederation Cup wins over Elgeco Plus. Prior to that, they won their last league game 1-0 against TS Galaxy.
Morena insists that his side will approach the game with utmost seriousness.
“We will be doing video analysis and we will know how to approach the game. We have tough games coming up and need to win to keep us motivated. We are preparing the way that we normally prepare for every game and we gave our best coming from the day off,” said Morena.
Sundowns will be looking to establish a comfortable lead at the top the log. Their next three league fixtures are against Marumo Gallants, Maritzburg United and Royal AM. These are three games they will be expected to win.
However, Sundowns will also have to carefully rotate in the game against Marumo Gallants as they face Orlando Pirates in their MTN8 semi-final second leg on Saturday. The first leg ended 0-0.
IOL Sport