Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena says the travelling they did in Africa over the last two weeks was always going to be a factor after their winning streak was halted by Stellenbosch.
Sundowns' 15-game winning run in the league came to an end over the weekend after a 1-1 draw against Stellenbosch.
The Brazilians came to the game with only two days' rest after thrashing Marumo Gallants 3-1 to advance in the Nedbank Cup, which was their first domestic game in a month after three consecutive matches in the CAF Champions League.
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The Tshwane giants were on the road for two weeks, as they visited Coton Sport in Cameroon and took another long trip to Cairo, Egypt, to take on Al Ahly.
Mokwena says people forget that all this travelling takes its toll on players and he's happy they will be at home against Al Ahly on Saturday, after they also had to travel to Stellenbosch.
"We're excited for that, so it's gonna be a tough game against a very good side and as I said earlier, people don't think about how difficult it is for us to be even able to come here (at Stellenbosch) for example, after two days already in a difficult game," Mokwena said in a press conference.
"In a cup game and there's a lot of pressure, we pick up a result that puts us in the next round and that was at the back of travelling all the way North (of Africa) to play a very difficult game where we had a lot of pressure to get a result.
"And people just expect us to pitch and win football matches, it's not easy with the travelling, with the pressure, with a lot of investment of having to watch three, four games of Stellenbosch," he said.
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The 36-year old coach went on to say that despite all these congested fixtures, they have not compromised the quality of their preparations.
"And then have to watch our previous game and do corrections, showing the video to the players, so I have nothing but huge words of compliment for this group, honest group of players that invest so much and under very difficult circumstances to make sure that they do their best, not just to represent us the coaches but themselves and their families and the football club," he continued.
"And they do that very well, a huge compliment to this group and as I always say I'm very proud and honoured to be their coach because every 96 minutes, 98 minutes sometimes they do the best that they can to make sure that they try to win football matches," he added.
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