Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has moved to address questions surrounding the absence of winger Monnapule Saleng, making it clear the situation is purely medical and not a matter of squad selection or competition for places.
Saleng joined Sundowns from Orlando Pirates in January but arrived at Chloorkop carrying an injury, and while he’s featured in a couple of games, there’s been growing speculation around his recent unavailability, Cardoso was keen to set the record straight.
Nuno Santos replaced Saleng on the bench this afternoon ahead of their 3-0 win over Rise and Shine at Lofts Versfeld.
“There’s no competition because there’s space for all of them — but if you take a look at the medical report it’s clear that Saleng could not be available to be lined up or be called up even — when we were in the previous match in the warm-up, he didn’t feel good,” he explained.
The Portuguese coach went on to reveal that Saleng had been present in the matchday setup but was physically unable to take part, leaving the technical staff with no choice but to keep him sidelined.
“So he was on the bench but he couldn’t play. When we felt he was not okay, when he complained he was not okay, we could not substitute the match sheet — it was too late.
“So he was on the bench but he could not be lined up in the previous match.”
