Manqoba Mngqithi says they are expecting a tricky tie on Saturday when they face struggling Maritzburg United in the DSTV Premiership.
Sundowns face Maritzburg at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Saturday night, with kick off scheduled for 20h15.
While Maritzburg are yet to win a league game this season, Mngqithi knows that the team’s form is not indicative of their quality.
Maritzburg also have a new coach, after re-appointing Ernst Middendorp, and he is expected to be on the bench for the first time.
“Ernst is an astute technician,” Mnqqithi said before the game, “who comes with a lot of things in the game.”
“I’ve got a lot of respect for that coach, he may not have achieved that much in the country, but believe me, he’s one coach that works very hard in the game, because we know Ernst, we know the quality of the coach he is.”
“And that team is not a bad team. The same team that was giving everyone trouble last season, and unfortunately for whatever reason they had a bad start.”
“When you look at their matches, they still have their most influential players, De Reuck at the back is still strong, Nazeer Allie is still strong, Morgan on the left, Sanoka on the right. They’ve brought Kwanda into the central midfield to play with Ntshangase, and it looks very good.”
“They’ve got one of the best passers in the league, which is Buchanan, who has probably contributed to 80 to 90% of the goals – they’ve got some very interesting players.”
“Up front they’ve got Ali Meza, he’s a troublesome striker, he runs 90 minutes, and will give us a lot of trouble. And one of the most under-rated strikers in the country in Kutumela, who I believe is one of the best in the country, his movements are unbelievable, in general.”
“That makes them to be a very tricky affair.”
