Mamelodi Sundowns are heading into their sixth DStv Premiership on Wednesday when they travel to Polokwane. As the anticipation builds for the upcoming clash between Masandawana and Polokwane City, we had the privilege of sitting down with Aubrey Modiba to get an exclusive look into their preparation for the upcoming match.
With the encounter against Rise and Shine just around the corner, Bafana Ba Style’s full back emanated a sense of focused determination for their away battle, he said: “We are expecting a very tough match and a very difficult one because every game is tough. I think that they’ve done fairly well because they are currently number five on the log and it shows that they are doing something good.
“We are expecting a difficult game but we’ve got players that can put in a good performance on the day so that we can be able to collect the points, but you know we are playing in their own backyard and therefore they are going to have supporters cheering them on, but we are ready for the game and I think we will be able to do well. We are looking forward to the game against Polokwane City at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.”
Polokwane City have played four matches in their opening campaign of the 2023-24 season following their promotion back into topflight competition. Of the four matches played already, the Polokwane team has won two games and lost two to occupy the number 5 position in the standings. Analyzing their opponents, Modiba highlighted City’s challenges and key players to look out for on the day.
“I think right now they’ve just come back from a loss and it was away from home and now they will be playing at home, I think they are going to approach the game differently this time around. You could see even with the game that they lost that they can score goals and it shows that we can’t take them lightly.”
“We have to defend well, make sure that we take our chances because this is a team that can hurt us anytime, so we are not going to go there and expect an easy game or a walk in the park. We just have to apply ourselves and make sure that we do well. I don’t think the results from the previous game will matter in this game because this is going to be a different ball game.”
“They’ve got pretty good players in Oswin Appollis, he scored two goals in the game that they won against cape Town Spurs [and] the big striker, Douglas Mapfumo I think he’s their target man, he can hold the ball well and he also scored in their previous game. We know quite a few of them and I think we will do the preview and analyze their weaknesses and strengths as well, but overall they’ve got a good team.”
Mamelodi Sundowns were last in action on Wednesday, 23 August when they beat Richards Bay 1-0 in their away trip. The Brazilians will be looking to extend their unbeaten streak when they resume league action in Polokwane.
“Preparations have been going well, we’ve just restarted today after a few days being off and we’ve been pushing hard at training so that we can keep on winning our games, keep the momentum going because if you lose one game it can hurt you badly but we just have to make sure that we keep on doing what we have been doing and try and collect points.”
“To our Mamelodi sundowns supporters they must know that we appreciate their support everywhere that we go, whether it’s in Pretoria or any other province outside of Gauteng, they must come out in numbers in Polokwane and give us that extra boost. We appreciate them and we wish to see them come out in numbers to support us as the 12th man.”
Mamelodi Sundowns lock horns with Polokwane City in the DStv Premiership on Wednesday, 30 August. Kick off is at 17H00, live on SuperSport TV.
