NB La Masia coach Daine Klate says his side will “aspire” to be more like Mamelodi Sundowns following their 6-1 defeat in the round of 32 of the Nedbank Cup.

The Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit crashed out at the first stage of the competition after conceding six goals at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto.

Sundowns, meanwhile, progressed to the next stage of the competition, where they are joined by SuperSport United who beat Cape Town City in a penalty shootout.

Klate was pleased with his team’s performance and sees their defeat as a learning curve moving forward.

“I think a lot of learning, it doesn’t normally unfold in the league we play, with the efficiency and the quality of Sundowns they really showed how devastating they can be in the final third,” Klate told SuperSport TV after the game.

“I thought we were a little bit eager at times, we had good moments of pressing high up the pitch but when you go backwards to your goal we’ve got to be a little bit calmer, so that’s the lesson we’re taking away from this.

I think the closer we get to our box the less eager we need to become, just keep the shape a little bit more, wait a moment to win the ball back, because we pressed high, a little bit more in the middle third.

“I thought we kept the line too high sometimes, the ball bubbling and goes to Sundowns and we’re not dropping five, six yards back, to kill the space in behind but valuable lessons today.

“Fantastic result for Sundowns, congratulations to them, we can aspire to become like them, so we take it on the chin, we take all the lessons from this one and we move on.”

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