Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has provided an update on the fitness of Ronwen Williams and Teboho Mokoena ahead of their CAF Super Cup clash, admitting the club are unwilling to take unnecessary risks with either player.
The Brazilians have been managing fitness concerns surrounding two of their key players, with both Williams and Mokoena facing a race against time to return to full fitness for the continental showdown.
Cardoso stressed that while Sundowns would ideally have both available for their biggest matches, protecting their long-term health remains the priority, with the technical team prepared to trust the alternatives currently available.
“Very difficult to really – we cannot risk the health of a player and this is our role here, it’s to protect our players and the health of the players,” he said.
“Let’s see how things will progress and obviously we’d like them to be ready for the biggest matches. I think we have players who are doing well in their positions, whom we trust.”
The Portuguese tactician also provided further insight into Mokoena’s situation, revealing that the midfielder returned from international duty in poor physical condition before subsequently suffering another setback.
Mokoena had featured in the MTN8 final despite his initial fitness concerns, but an unfortunate incident during Sundowns’ encounter against Wiliete SC further complicated his recovery.
“We had a big setback with Teboho as you understood, publicly, he didn’t come, not even close to being in good conditions from the national team, he returned injured, and it was important he played in the MTN8 final.
“But then an unfortunate action against Wiliete, he was standing on one leg, he had a contact and of course it was a small thing on the leg, let’s see… A lot of work has been done on him, you saw him smiling and dancing.”
Despite the midfielder showing positive signs in his recovery, Cardoso was reluctant to put a definitive timeline on his return, insisting that his mood and physical readiness were two different considerations.
Williams, meanwhile, is also following a similar recovery process, although Cardoso indicated that the goalkeeper’s problem is not considered a major injury.
The Sundowns coach reiterated that the club would rather exercise patience than risk aggravating either player’s condition at such an important stage of the campaign.
“I think his mood is okay – his capacity to play, let’s see when he can come back of course, we have to protect him. Ronwen is a similar process, it’s not a big injury, he was struggling, we’re doing our best to have him in proper conditions, because we need to protect these players, so we need to take our time.”
The continental fixture is scheduled to take place at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday at 15h00.