Miguel Cardoso reacts to Monnapule Saleng debut | OneFootball

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Cardoso speaks on Saleng's first Downs outing

Photo: Lefty Shivambu/ Gallo Images

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has reacted to Monnapule Saleng's debut in their Betway Premiership win against Sekhukhune United over the weekend.

The 27-year-old winger was snapped from title rivals Orlando Pirates in the January transfer window after spending the first round of the season on loan at Orbit College.

Saleng entered the fray in the last 10 minutes and made an instant impact as he set-up striker Iqraam Rayners, who restored Sundowns' lead in the 81st minute.

Cardoso was left impressed with Saleng's contribution in his first Downs outings, having recently recovered from an injury he picked up during his time at Orbit.

“Well, Saleng did well. Saleng is a player that has high quality and the outcome on those duels. He can play outside, right [or] left, you know him even better than myself. Unfortunately, I just started working with him very recently because he was injured, but he made a fantastic recovery,” he said.

"We never wanted to put pressure on his comeback and we should still not, obviously he's recovered but he also getting conditioning and understanding what we want from him.

The Portuguese mentor hinted at deploying Saleng as a utility player, with the former Free State Stars talisman able to turn out in multiple positions.

“He can play outside, he can play inside, so don't get suprised if you see him having different positions on the pitch. Today we needed to keep the structure, especially because [Khuliso] Mudau as you saw he was struggling with that ankle and we could not expose him too much in attack,” Cardoso added.

"Also, we didn't want to expose ourselves too much in defence. So, we decided to open him on the right, on a moment that Tashreeq [Matthews] was already with lack of energy and it worked fantastic of course, it worked very well for the team.

"I still need to review the game, I just know of course it was an action of him that gave the ball inside [the box] and Iqraam scored I think also in a very beautiful technical execution.

Meanwhile, Sundowns are level on 41 points with log leaders Pirates, and return to action with a visit from Golden Arrows on Wednesday.