Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Tiyani Mabunda has urged his teammates not to let their disastrous 3-0 defeat in MTN8 final affect their Caf Champions League preparations.

Downs suffered a surprise 3-0 hammering at the hands of Bidvest Wits in the final of the MTN8 on Saturday but Mabunda is eager to put the result behind him and refocus on the job at hand.

‘I hope it doesn’t affect us. It’s painful to lose especially a cup final and it’s not easy to accept defeat,’ Mabunda told KickOff. ‘But we’ve to learn from it, correct our mistakes and look at the positives that came out from this game and use it for the next game.’

Mabunda admitted defeat was always difficult to accept but insists the side needs to respond well to the defeat.

‘I think the best way to respond in the situation that we’ve been through now is to win. We need to do that so we can gain confidence, we should find a way of standing up and dusting ourselves off and look forward to the game.

‘Sundowns is a very big team and they have been in so many cup finals and for us to lose it doesn’t mean we are the bad team,’ he concluded.

Downs will take on Zamalek in the two-legged Caf Champions League final in the coming weeks, with the first leg set to take place at the Lucas Moripe Stadium next week Friday before the return leg takes place on October 21 in Cairo.