Mamelodi Sundowns determined to avoid consecutive defeats, says Aubrey Modiba

Mamelodi Sundowns will look to respond immediately to their MTN8 semi-final defeat when they face AmaZulu in the Betway Premiership, with defender Aubrey Modiba insisting the club cannot afford to lose two matches in succession.

Sundowns were beaten 1-0 by Golden Arrows in the first leg of their MTN8 semi-final at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday. The result was a surprise for a team that has set exceptionally high standards over a number of years, but Modiba says the focus has already shifted to the league.

The champions host AmaZulu at Loftus Stadium tomorrow night, aiming to continue the form that saw them defeat Marumo Gallants 2-0 in their previous Betway Premiership fixture.

“Playing AmaZulu is never easy. Right now I think we need to shift our focus to the league game. We take the loss against Arrows, but we take the positives in that game going into the Betway Premiership because it’s a different competition compared to MTN8. You know at Sundowns we try to not lose consecutive games. We are going to try our level best to bounce back and collect points,” Modiba told the Sundowns media department.

The left-back said Sundowns had worked hard to recover from the defeat and would be determined to take points from a closely matched contest. Both teams have seven points after their opening three league matches, making the fixture an important opportunity for either side to strengthen its position.

Modiba also highlighted the importance of Sundowns making home advantage count. The club’s previous league match at home ended in a convincing victory against Marumo Gallants, and he hopes the team can reproduce that level of performance in front of its supporters.

“It’s important to do well at home because if you collect as many points as possible at home, you stand a good chance of doing well in the league. It’s another game at home in front of our supporters and we can hear them sing all the time. If you can check our last Betway Premiership game at home (against Marumo Gallants), the performance was good. Hopefully we can be able to match that going into the next game. We know AmaZulu is a good team, but we have a good team and the coaches will put up a team that will do well on the day and hopefully we get maximum points.”

Sundowns’ defeat by Golden Arrows came in the first meeting of the MTN8 semi-final, leaving them needing to recover in the competition while maintaining their league momentum. For now, however, Modiba is concentrating on a competition in which Sundowns remain unbeaten after three matches.

He acknowledged that AmaZulu would provide a difficult challenge, but believes Sundowns possess enough quality to respond strongly. The team’s immediate target is to collect the maximum three points and avoid the consecutive defeats that the club has consistently sought to prevent.