All’s not rosy at Sundowns

If Hlompho Kekana’s words are anything to go by, everything is not well at Mamelodi Sundowns.

“We are under pressure as players,” said Kekana (above). “We know what is expected from us. We just want to win matches. If we win the matches, we stand a chance of being happy as a family.

“The confidence of the team is low because we have not won matches like we expected to.”

Downs head to the Lucas Moripe Stadium tonight looking to advance into the next round of the Telkom Knockout Cup when they take on Chippa United.

Following a sluggish start to the season that saw the Tshwane giants miss out on the MTN8 trophy, coach Pitso Mosimane has conceded the players and the technical team are all under pressure to produce results.

But winning will mean more than relieving the pressure for Kekana. The 30-year-old striker is already relishing an opportunity to play in the Ziwa Mo fi nal. “Expectations are very high, so we just want to win the matches and that’s it,” said Kekana.

“The league has changed. There is no small team and there is no big team. Every team is capable of winning. We just need to apply ourselves like in the previous matches and we stand a chance.”

The Brazilians last won the league cup in 1999 and exited the tournament at the semifinal stage last season and will be looking to make amends. But they face the Chilli Boys who managed to break a losing streak with a 2-1 win over Polokwane City last week in a league clash and will be out to build on their first-round exit in the previous campaign.

Kick-off is at 8.15pm.