TS Galaxy coach ready to pounce on 'tired' Mamelodi Sundowns | OneFootball

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Galaxy mentor aims to take advantage of fatigued Downs

Photo: DISKI FANS

TS Galaxy head coach Adan Beganovic is looking to take advantage of Mamelodi Sundowns' fatigue ahead of their Nedbank Cup Round of 16 clash at Solomon Mahlangu Stadium on Saturday (15h00).

The Brazilians head into the game on the back of two high intensity matches in a space of five days against MC Alger and Orlando Pirates in the CAF Champions League and the Betway Premiership, respectively.

Downs' players were cramping against the Buccaneers, and Beganovic sees an opportunity to exploit their tiredness, with a spot in the quarter-finals on the line.

“It can be on both sides, I watched both games against MC Alger and Orlando Pirates live, I was in the stadium and yes, it was high intensity in both games, they spent a lot of energy. It's a quality team, we need to be honest, Mamelodi Sundowns play quality football with quality players inside,” he said.

"It can be a little bit of an advantage for us because in a short time they played two games, they spent a lot of energy, a lot of players complained about cramping, about tiredness. Yesterday I saw three, four, five players asking to be substituted off because they can't finish the game.

"It means it can be tricky to play with the same team or to change something but I always want to put more attention on my players and what we need to do, how we need to look at that game, and every small detail can be crucial because Mamelodi Sundowns can punish every team from small mistakes.

Though he senses a chance to take advantage of an energy-depleted Sundowns, the Bosnian mentor acknowledges that securing a favorable result against ‘one of the biggest clubs on the continent' won't be a walk in the park.

“We need to respect Mamelodi Sundowns, it's one of the biggest clubs on the continent, not only in South Africa. Only if we respect everything that Mamelodi Sundowns [have achieved], I think we can be focused 100% for 90 minutes or 120 minutes in the next game,” Beganovic added.

"We have our preparation, we have our goal. I think we have a beautiful chance to show ourselves what we were doing the last one-and-a-half-year. We are playing at home, we want to try to cross to the next round.