Jeremy Brockie admits Mamelodi Sundowns face an uphill struggle

Mamelodi Sundowns have an uphill struggle – wearing a backpack‚ pushing a broken-down car – not just playing catchup in the Absa Premiership‚ but doing so juggling a second Caf Champions League campaign in one season.

Sundowns host Maritzburg United at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday night in fourth place on the log table. They have four matches – and eight points – to catch up on leaders Bidvest Wits.

Due to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) switching from a southern to a northern hemisphere calendar‚ Downs‚ who had already played four matches of the 2018 Champions League this season‚ have added five more in the 2018-19 version.

They began the group stage with a 2-1 away defeat against Nigeria’s Lobi Stars on Friday‚ and have plenty more continental matches‚ with accompanying grueling travel‚ coming up in January and February.

“It is very difficult. Games in hand don’t always mean maximum points‚” Sundowns’ Kiwi striker Jeremy Brockie admitted.

“If we look at the table‚ and read too much into the games in hand‚ that’s where you’re likely to slip up.

“We’ve just got to keep plugging away. We’ve been unbeaten in the league for a long time now.

“But we need to concentrate on collecting three points because one is not really enough‚ especially with the schedule and the travelling that we’ve got coming up.

“So‚ we’re in front of our home fans [against Maritzburg] – we’ll look for maximum points.”

Brockie missed the Lobi Stars defeat with a suspension.

“I watched the game on TV and I thought we started quite brightly – had a few chances but didn’t quite take them‚” he said.

“And then conceding the penalty right on half time completely changed things.

“But I made the most of the week to top up‚ because we’ve got a busy January coming. So if I’m called upon for Wednesday then I’m nice and fresh ahead of a busy schedule.”

Downs meet a Maritzburg desperate for points in last place (11 points from 16 matches).