Despite already clinching a fifth successive Premiership title with four games to spare last week, Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi insists they won’t take their foot off the pedal as they look to improve on last season’s points tally.
The Brazilians take on Sekhukhune United on Wednesday evening looking to pick up another three points despite having already won the league.
Speaking in the buildup to the clash, Mngqithi admitted that his team wont let off as they’re aiming to reach the 70-point mark and beat last season’s total of 67.
“It’s always a little bit difficult to be sure that the message will go across, but as a club we have always set our targets and our players know very well that we got our benchmarks that we are trying to achieve or to better them,” Mngqithi told the club’s media department.
“Last season, we had 67 points and one of the biggest margins was 71 points, which we will no longer reach. But we can still go beyond the 67 points that we achieved last year.
“And that is what we aim to achieve and our players know very well. But we have to work hard in their minds in making sure that they respect this process because we set that together.
“We were not only coaches making decisions, but everybody got a sense of ownership towards what we want to achieve.”
With Sekhukhune having brought in Owen Da Gama as a co-coach heading into the business end of the season, Mnqithi admitted they may come up against a different side.
“They have always been a good team but, obviously, when you bring in a new coach at this stage of the season … the players want to perform to impress the new coach,” he said.
“But having looked at their game against Arrows, I don’t think there is more that they can still change at this stage of the season. Maybe it will only be a change of lineups.
“We understand very well what to expect from that match because they’ve got very good pace up front. Now they have Justin Shonga, Charlton Mashumba and [Tshediso] Patjie, who is also a very big factor in their offensive play. And that makes them a team that deserves to be respected.”
