De Sa expecting Sundowns backlash at Royal Bafokeng Stadium

Platinum Stars coach Roger de Sa expects a backlash when his charges host Mamelodi Sundowns at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Defeat for the Brazilians in the African Champions League last weekend was a bitter blow and De Sa expects the visitors to be in fighting mood on Sunday.

“I think they’ll come out with all guns blazing because what do they have to play for now? It’s just the league‚" the Stars coach said.

“And with them it also doesn’t matter which team they bring because they have got two XIs who are good enough to win the league.”

Beleaguered Stars sit bottom of the Premier Soccer League standings with just two points and uncertainty over their future looming over their heads.

A reported takeover of the club suddenly stalled earlier this month‚ adding to the tense atmosphere and De Sa has had to pick up the pieces after a shabby start to the season.

“We still need three or four players to beef up the squad and we could use players like Brian Mwila and Vieira (Lehlogonolo Masalesa)‚ who are still out injured.”

Zambian international Mwila has been injured since returning from World Cup qualifying duty‚ where he scored against Algeria‚ while Masalesa has yet to play for the club since signing at the start of the seasons because of a knee injury.

“We gave Vieira a run out in a training game on Wednesday and he was back in the physio yesterday‚” de Sa said on Friday.

“So we just have to be careful with him.”

Sunday’s match at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace could have come a little bit later in the season‚ joked De Sa.

“I was hoping they weren’t going to be knocked out because then they would have been playing in the semifinals this weekend and we would have been off‚ giving us more time for training.

“We do need a morale booster.

"But we had a good battle in our last game at AmaZulu and we should have beaten Arrows when we hosted them.

"We had every chance to win the game and then gave away a last minute penalty.

"I’ve only been here for four games – two draws and two wins – but I’ve felt that in every game we have had a chance to win.”

Sundowns play only their fourth game of the league campaign‚ having won two of their previous three. - TimesLIVE