Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena says he will not be resting on their laurels when they take on AmaTuks in the Nedbank Cup quarter-final clash on Friday evening.

Sundowns come into this fixture off the back of a narrow 1-0 victory over Cape Town Spurs in the DStv Premiership on Monday.

AmaTuks, meanwhile, enter this encounter clinched a 1-0 win over Casric Stars in their Motsepe Foundation Championship clash last Friday.

The Brazilians are set to face the University of Pretoria at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, with kick-off set for 7pm.

Despite Sundowns’ current run of form, Mokwena says he will show his next opponents respect.

“We try to focus more on respecting the opposition. Tuks are a good side with a very good coach who strives because in my youth days, I’d see him at the Tuks training facilities coaching the juniors.

“He is someone I have great respect for. They’ve got a very good side which is very strong on transition, second balls, direct attacks and putting pressure in the box.

“One will have to go with a lot of respect because we want to ourselves in the semi-final of this competition but to do that, we will have to work very hard.

“We haven’t been in this position in a very long time where at this point in the season we are still competing for three trophies.

“As the leadership we have to be at the top of our game and we show the energy and desire that the players have to feed off from. We just want to give more and more to the season.

“We want to leave the jersey better than we found it. The level is very high and the standard has been set. We are a club that’s trying to entrench itself as one of the best not just in South Africa but in the continent too.

“We want to be the group that is remembered to have given their all even in the midst of some of the sacrifices that we have had to make and the suffering we have had to undergo,” he concluded.

Photo by Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix