'We have to bounce back with a win against Sundowns' - Furman

SuperSport United captain Dean Furman has admitted his side might need to win both their back-to-back Absa Premiership matches against Mamelodi Sundowns to stay in contention fore the title.

After suffering an end to a 19-game unbeaten run in their previous league game against Baroka FC‚ where 20 would have been a record‚ SuperSport face African champions Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld on Thursday night.

They meet the Brazilians again in the return match at Lucas Moripe Stadium next Wednesday.

• Sundowns have to rediscover their swag in Tshwane derby showdown against SupersportMamelodi Sundowns have to rediscover their deadliness in front of goal in a potentially pivotal match in their defence of their Absa Premiership title against SuperSport United on Thursday night‚ says Downs captain Hlompo Kekana. 

Sundowns might have hit a slump of five matches without a win‚ but SuperSport’s own mini-slump has left them drifting increasingly far from the front-runners in fourth place‚ nine points behind leaders Bidvest Wits.

Matsatsantsa would have set a new PSL record had they beaten then last-placed Baroka 11 days ago‚ but lost 1-0 at Mbombela Stadium.

• Don't expect Onyango back for Sundowns just yetBy his own admission‚ Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has been wrong in predicting the return of his first choice goalkeeper Denis Onyango. 

Their two draws before that also cost the one-time PSL leaders.

“There’s no point hiding it‚" Furman said.

"We’re in the business end and victories can really take you into a position to challenge‚ and losses are felt a lot more than at the beginning of the season‚ whether that makes sense or not.

“If you lose at this stage you can fall behind the chasing pack.

"So for us‚ you lose against Baroka and there’s a huge disappointment‚ and it’s something that we want to come back from strongly.

“We have to go and put that right now against Sundowns.

"So definitely‚ losses at this stage of the season can dent your title credentials‚ and I think it’s massive for us to bounce back from last week’s defeat with a win against Sundowns.

“It’s football. It can happen. We have to try and not dwell on the defeat last week. We’ve discussed it‚ we’ve gone over it‚ we’ve tried to put things right that went wrong on the day.

“But if you dwell on the defeat too much then you’re going to get low on confidence and really suffer.

"So it’s about moving on very quickly and understanding the importance of winning at this stage of the season.

“And try and win our remaining nine games to hopefully go on and win the league.

“Everyone’s got difficult games coming up‚ so I wouldn’t say the league’s over after these two games.

"Every team’s still pretty much playing everyone‚ so there are a lot of twists and turns to come.

“I think for us we know we have to get back up there – I think this is the lowest we’ve been for some time in terms of league position.

“But we also know that a few wins and you’re right back up there.”

SuperSport have 37 points from 21 games. Sundowns have 35 from 19.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport