Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene believes their disappointment in the Caf Champions League last season will push them to claiming continental glory this season.

The 34-year-old has been an integral part of Pitso Mosimane’s squad this campaign after their No 1 shot-stopper, Denis Onyango, sustained an injury which has kept him sidelined for six to eight weeks.

During that time, Mweene has already managed to keep four clean sheets in five games for the Brazilians thus far.

Sundowns failed to advance from the group stages of the Champions League last season, but Mweene believes that his side have learnt from their mistakes and could potentially go all the way this time round.

‘It’s good to learn when you fail,’ Mweene told his club’s official website.

‘It means you were short of something which you need to fix to advance to the group stage and beyond. We have learned a lot. When you fail, that’s when you identify all your mistakes so that you can rectify them. For us, there is a lot that we learnt. We saw our weaknesses and worked on it.

‘This time around we want to go all the way. We didn’t finish teams when we had them on the ropes and they came back and hurt us. Those are the things that we learned. We reflected on it. We aren’t at our best in terms of scoring goals, but it’s looking good at the moment and that was our main problem in the last edition of the Champions League.’

The Brazilians are currently in a transition stage after the departures of key figures Percy Tau and Khama Billiat and with the likes of Toni Silva, Lebohang Maboe and Ali Mezza still trying to adapt to life at Chloorkop.

However, Mweene believes the experience of the senior players within the squad will play a crucial role during their transition period.

‘Coach Pitso Mosimane has started to rebuild the team,’ he added.

‘There are new guys like Toni Silva, Ali Mezza, Gaston Sirino, Lebohang and Phakamani Mahlambi. They have to gel with the team and know how to play in the Champions League. They have to learn a lot of things. It will take a bit of time, but that’s not an excuse.

‘But also the players who have been there before, we know the feeling and we are experienced, we have to help the coach. Players like Hlompho, Anele, me, Denis, Anthony and all the other guys who are experienced and have been in the final of the Champions League have to help the coach so that the new players can integrate easily.’

Mamelodi Sundowns are set to welcome Al-Ahly Benghazi to Loftus Versfeld Stadium in their Caf Champions League first round encounter, which kicks off at 3pm.

Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix