Posted in News, Team News on Jan 05, 2019.
Coach Ernst Middendorp has this to say ahead of the titanic match, “there was no festive break for us. We treated the holidays as normal for us. We had it all worked out.”
On Friday afternoon, Coach Middendorp took his charges through the final preparation for the match.
After carefully watching his charges going through the light practice, Middendorp was brimming with confidence. He made a few observations about the visitors, “the strong part of Sundowns is that they have a huge squad. I expect in their line-up a few players that have not played in their recent games. There’s a couple of guys that may appear for this game. We will be on guard anyway.”
Middendorp confirmed the absence still of Joseph Molangoane, Ramahlwe Mphahlele and Mulomowandau Mathoho due to an assortment of injuries. Joining the trio is skipper and goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune who is out with a houlder injury.
He continued, “there is a high spirit and high level of teamwork. The confidence has picked up tremendously as well. All these are key components and should augur well for our intentions.”
Middendorp welcomed the return from a loan spell Lorenzo Gordinho. The fullback was on loan at Bloemfontein Celtic.
“We welcome back Lorenzo in the squad. He will give us more options. He’s a good player and I think he comes at the right time where we have injuries and matches coming back to back,” concluded Middendorp.
Kick-off for the match is at 15:30.